Congratulations to Jaiden Kuchinka!
VAST would like to extend the warmest congratulations to Jaiden Kuchinka (VAST Scholar 2024-2025) for her success at Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2025 (AAIC25) where her poster was awarded the Partnering with Research Participants PIA Best Student Poster Award!
For those of you who haven’t met her, Jaiden is completing her MSc at the University of Calgary in Community Health Sciences, specializing in Population and Public Health. She has been completing her research under Dr. Pamela Roach to understand what is needed to develop an culturally congruent model of Indigenous dementia care in Alberta. She recently attended AAIC, an international dementia/brain health conference that had over 8,000 in person attendees where she was awarded the best student poster award for Partnering with Research Participants (PIA).
She will be defending her thesis this fall and start medical school at the Cumming School of Medicine in Calgary July 2026. Alongside her academic work, Jaiden has been leading Makwa Dodem, an Indigenous-led prevention program at Ally Global Foundation focused on anti-human trafficking. This dual commitment to Indigenous health and community-based advocacy shapes her future goal of integrating culturally grounded, community-driven approaches into both dementia care and anti-trafficking initiatives.
Below, you can read Jaiden’s abstract:
TITLE: What Is Needed to Develop a Culturally Informed Model of Indigenous Dementia Care in Alberta, Canada?; A Qualitative Study
BACKGROUND:
Research shows that approximately 10,800 Indigenous people in Canada were living with dementia in 2020. It is projected that by 2050 these numbers will rise to 40,300—an increase of 273%, while the projected increase for the overall population is 187%. Current evidence recommends that a shift away from pharmacological to non-pharmacological treatment for dementia is effective in all populations. Developing a culturally informed model of dementia care requires actively involving Indigenous people in shaping the process.
Research Aim
To establish what is needed to provide Indigenous-centred dementia care, setting a standard for engaging with communities in a manner that respects and addresses their unique needs.
METHODS:
This study has co-designed the components of an Indigenous-centred dementia care approach through ethical engagement with Indigenous community members. To prioritize ethical and decolonial research approaches, sequential focus groups were used alongside a visiting approach (Keeoukaywin), a Métis theoretical way of knowing. Four focus groups (five participants/group) were completed between October and December 2024. Content and delivery methods discussed with Indigenous care partners for an adaptable care intervention aimed at supporting diverse groups of Indigenous people. Data were coanalysed by two Indigenous researchers using thematic qualitative analysis.
FINDINGS:
Overarching themes: Indigenization, Personalization, and Systemic barriers. While these do not always work in isolation, meaning something can be both Indigenized and Personalized with systemic barriers around it, it is critical that any dementia care model not only meets specific cultural needs but also addresses personalize care and systemic challenges.
INDIGENIZATION
Implementing dementia care that takes an Indigenized approach reflects the desires of participants who expressed the need for: various ceremonial practices, cultural care plans, cultural rooms, and more.
PERSONALIZATION
The customization or adaptation of care, culture, and interactions to fit the unique needs, culture, or conditions of individuals. This can include adaptations made to accommodate physical, mental, cultural, or social needs.
SYSTEMIC BARRIERS
Obstacles or challenges within care systems that slow/prevent/limit the ability to deliver effective and safe care or future care. This was also a theme across the framework as there are current challenges that would need to be addressed before implementing new models of care and/or possible future challenges with the implementation of a new model of care.
CONCLUSIONS:
Ways to implement findings for next steps: Culturally-specific brain health education, Indigenous-specific risk identification and dementia prevention, programs that involved the traditions of local Nations (e.g., jigging, beading, etc.), immersive training for staff to deliver the programming, dementia-friendly ceremonies. This work will impact numerous populations that need culturally specific approaches to dementia care policy and planning by informing an ethical process to engaging with diverse populations. Also to contribute toward the goal of eliminating systemic racism in the Canadian healthcare system by creating safer spaces for racialized people living with dementia and their families.