WRITING FOR A REASON

Seniors are the fastest growing population group in Canada today. There are currently five million seniors living in Canada, a number that is expected to double in the next twenty-five years. By the year 2031, a quarter of Canada’s population will be over age sixty-five. Right now, one in eleven–approximately half a million seniors– over age sixty-five has dementia. That number is also expected to double by 2038.

It’s estimated that ten percent of seniors experience some form of abuse. That number is thought to be higher for those with dementia, but because they are often unable to remember or communicate, stats are unknown.

When I was in college, taking the “Personal Support Worker” course, I did my placement in the dementia unit of a nursing home. My teacher thought I had the right personality for it. And I did seem to have a knack for soothing, reassuring and redirecting…

View original post 429 more words

About Laurie Gardiner

Laurie has loved writing as long as she can remember. Her first published work, “'Til Death Do Us Part,” placed first in the 1997 Cambridge Writers’ Collective short story contest. Her latest works include short stories, “Retribution" and "Thief," appearing respectively in Scout Media's 2016 and 2017 anthologies, A Journey of Words and A Haunting of Words. Over the years, her poetry has also been published in various anthologies. Her debut novel, Tranquility, published in 2015, by Escargot Books and Music, was inspired by her work as a personal support worker specializing in dementia care. In 2015, she graduated with honors from Conestoga College’s Creative Writing program. She’s a Canadian, an avid reader, a yogi, and a Gemini. She grew up on a farm in remote northern Ontario, and now lives in Cambridge, Ontario with her husband and cat.

View all posts by Laurie Gardiner →

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.