The Dementia Collective

In this bonus episode of The Dementia Collective, Andrew Karesa takes a close look at what a dementia village actually is — and why, despite decades of evidence that they work, Canada has yet to build one at scale.

The video begins with a simple number: more than 400 Canadians are diagnosed with dementia every day. By 2050, that number is projected to reach 1.7 million. Andrew uses that as a starting point to ask a harder ques...

What if Hollywood’s dementia problem is not just what it shows, but what it leaves out?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with filmmaker, writer, director, producer, and caregiver advocate Susie Singer Carter to explore dementia, storytelling, long-term care, and the responsibility that comes with representing people who are too often misunderstood.

Susie shares the story of caring for her mother, Norma, ...

In this episode, ⁠Andrew Karesa⁠ sits down with ⁠Cindy Diogo⁠, CEO and Co-Founder of ConSoul, to explore what it means to support employees who are caring for a loved one living with dementia. Drawing on her background in HR and People & Culture, as well as her own family caregiving journey, Cindy reflects on the growing reality that more families are trying to navigate dementia care while still holding down a job.  <...

What can one year of dementia conversations teach us about care, stigma, grief, advocacy, and hope?

In this special one-year anniversary episode of The Dementia Collective, Andrew Karesa steps out of the interviewer’s chair and becomes the guest. Joined by guest host Anoushka Fernandes, Andrew reflects on how the show began almost by accident, what it has grown into, and what a year of conversations with caregivers, pe...

What if dementia is not only a medical condition, but a story shaped by who gets to tell it?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with novelist and screenwriter Alfredo Botello to explore caregiving, storytelling, and the power of representation.

Alfredo shares his experience caring for his mother and how that journey influenced his writing. From the private realities of family caregiving to the public portrayals ...

What happens when a family is left to navigate dementia without clear guidance or support?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with Lori La Bey, founder of Alzheimer’s Speaks, to explore what a decades-long caregiving journey reveals about the realities of dementia care.

Lori supported her mother through a 30-year experience with dementia. What began as confusion and uncertainty became a lifelong commitment...

What happens when correcting someone you love no longer brings clarity, and may actually increase distress?

In this episode, ⁠Andrew Karesa⁠ sits down with ⁠Karen Tyrell⁠, founder and CEO of ⁠Personalized Dementia Solutions⁠, to explore one of the most common and misunderstood challenges in dementia care: the instinct to correct.

With more than 30 years of experience supporting families and frontline care teams, Karen...

How do you stay connected to someone when dementia seems to be pulling them further away?

In this episode of The Dementia Collective, Andrew Karesa sits down with Glenna Hecht, author, speaker, and former HR executive, to explore the unexpected game that transformed her nine year journey caring for her mother living with dementia.

Glenna shares the moment everything shifted. After watching her mother move in and out of different ages...

Why do so many men struggle to ask for help when caring for someone living with dementia?

In this episode of The Dementia Collective, Andrew Karesa sits down with Ron Beleno, caregiver advocate and leader in the aging and dementia space, to explore the role men play in dementia caregiving and why many feel pressure to handle the responsibility alone.

Ron begins by sharing his own caregiving journey after his father was diagnosed...

What does it mean to love someone whose personality is changing and to slowly realize it is not them?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with Erin Chalmers, co-anchor of Global Edmonton Morning News, daughter, caregiver, and Board Member of the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories, to talk about her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the quiet shift from confusion to clarity that many families...

What if the problem isn’t whether Canada has a dementia strategy, but whether families can actually feel it?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with Dr. Saskia Sivananthan to examine the gap between Canada’s National Dementia Strategy and the lived reality of families, clinicians, and communities trying to navigate brain change.

Drawing on her experience working at the intersection of research, policy, and national ...

What happens to joy when dementia enters the picture? When routines change, roles shift, and caregiving becomes heavier than anyone expected, is joy still possible, or does it quietly disappear?

In this episode of The Dementia Collective, Andrew Karesa sits down with Carrie Aalberts, gerontologist, dementia educator, and founder of Dementia Darling, to explore why joy still matters in dementia care and how it can exist alo...

What if The Notebook was never really a love story?Most people remember it that way.But underneath the romance, the film is doing something much more unsettling.It’s exploring what happens when memory fades… to the point that identity itself begins to break apart.In this video, we look at why The Notebook might actually be one of the most revealing films about dementia, caregiving, and the way we understand a person ov...

What does it mean when a former governor says caregiving was harder than public office?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with former Wisconsin Governor Martin J. Schreiber, author of My Two Elaines, for a deeply personal conversation about loving, caring for, and slowly losing his wife Elaine after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Marty brings a perspective few people can offer. He has lived in the world of leadersh...

What happens to faith when memory fades, words disappear, and the person we knew begins to change in ways that feel unfamiliar, or even unsettling?

In this episode of The Dementia Collective, Andrew Karesa sits down with Elisa Bosley, chaplain and founder of SpiritualElderCare.com, to explore how faith, music, and presence continue to matter in dementia care, especially near the end of life.

Elisa begins by sharing her own o...

What if good dementia care was not about getting everything right, but about understanding the person in front of you?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with Dr. Natali Edmonds, board certified geropsychologist and founder of Dementia Careblazers, to explore what caregivers are rarely told about dementia care, and why striving for perfection often makes the journey harder, not better.

Natali shares her path into geropsychology...

What if Inside Out accidentally explained how memory really works?

Pixar created a world where memories form as glowing spheres, fade over time, and are reshaped by emotion. It’s a beautiful storytelling device.

But it’s also surprisingly close to what researchers understand about how human memory actually works.

In this video, we explore why Inside Out might be one of the most accurate films about memo...

What happens when families sense cognitive change years before dementia is ever named, and are left living in uncertainty while waiting for clarity that arrives too late?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with Greg McGillis, engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of Brain Care Technologies, to explore why dementia is so often detected only after lives have already been disrupted, and what might change if cognitive decline we...

What if the most powerful story in Coco isn’t about music at all?

In one quiet moment near the end of the film, Pixar reveals something deeply human about memory, aging, and the fear of being forgotten. When Miguel sings Remember Me to Coco, the song stops being about fame or performance and becomes something far more personal — a bridge back to memory.

In this video, we explore the hidden story inside...