Our vision, mission and values

Our vision

A world without Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Our mission

To alleviate the personal and social consequences of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and to promote the search for causes, treatments and a cure.

Our values

Collaboration

We work together and with partners to fulfill our mission and achieve our goals, to ensure Canadians receive personal and responsive services throughout their dementia journey.

Accountability

We measure our performance and follow a process of continuous improvement. We are wholly accountable for our actions and must account to our stakeholders for our use of the financial and human resources available to us.

Respect

We set for ourselves the highest standards of honesty, trustworthiness and professional integrity in all aspects of our organization and carry out our work with the utmost respect for the dignity and the rights of the people we serve.

Excellence

We strive to engage stakeholders in meaningful ways. To inform, listen and be attentive to those we work with: People living with dementia, families, community partners, donors, volunteers and staff members.

Our guiding principles

1. Personhood: A standing or status that is bestowed upon one human being, by others, in the context of relationship and social being. Personhood implies recognition, respect and trust. (Sourced from: Kitwood, T.M. Dementia Reconsidered: the person comes first. p. cm.- ‘Rethinking Aging series’)
2. Dignity and respect: To create positive conditions where the person can live without fear of shame or ridicule; where people are treated with warmth and authenticity; listened to without judgment; and are given opportunity for self-determination and self-expression.
3. Acceptance and understanding: To accept each person with unconditional positive regard; to accept behaviour as a form of communication which expresses unmet needs or emotions; and to assist the person to continue to enjoy basic personal freedoms.
4. Relationships: To support and preserve present relationships; to support the person in the development of other positive relationships.
5. Recognition and individuality: To recognize the individuality of each person with their own unique life experiences, personality, values, beliefs and opinions; to have these factors respected and incorporated in support planning.
6. Relationships of trust: To provide the conditions necessary to satisfy fundamental needs and create a climate for personal realization by providing a relationship based on trust. In a relationship of trust, the person knows confidences are respected; choice and control is maintained; and the person will not be abandoned.

The significance of the Forget Me Not symbol

• The Alzheimer Society uses the Forget Me Not flower as a symbol to represent memory loss, one of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
• The Forget Me Not is also a reminder to remember people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, as well as their caregivers.
• The three flowers in the symbol represent the person with dementia, the caregiver and the Alzheimer Society.