Network of Knowledge

Dr. Kenneth Rockwood is project leader for the CDKTN (Danny Abriel photo)

This year alone, 97,000 Canadians will develop Alzheimer’s or a related disease. With the country’s population aging, new cases of dementia – strongly linked with Alzheimer’s – are expected to reach over 111,000 per year by 2011.

These numbers greatly concern Dr. Kenneth Rockwood. He’s the leader of a newly-established research network, the Canadian Dementia Knowledge Translation Network (CDKTN). Its goal: to revolutionize the way that people at all ends of the health care system understand and cope with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, from scientists and researchers to health care professionals and caregivers.

“This isn’t just about improving clinical care – it’s about making the science better as well,” says Dr. Rockwood, a professor of geriatric medicine in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie and Capital Health and the university’s Kathryn Allen Weldon Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease. “We must listen to patients and caregivers if we want to have a better understanding of how these diseases work.”

The CDKTN is a five-year project established through a $4 million grant from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) Institute for Aging. Based in Halifax, the network will include a multi-disciplinary team of more than 100 researchers in 18 sites across Canada.

Knowledge translation, as explained by Dr. Rockwood, is about ensuring that the latest information gets from researchers to patients and caregivers and vice-versa, so that all parties can better tackle the challenges they face. In addition to serving as project lead, Dr. Rockwood will also head up a team tackling one of its three key themes – “patient/caregiver centred knowledge translation.” Its primary focus will be developing a website to provide customized information to caregivers and help researchers understand the problems faced at the patient care level.

“For example, the issue of repetitive questioning – patients asking the same question over and over again – is very burdensome for caregivers,” says Dr. Rockwood. “There’s not a lot of information or research into that problem, but when you look at web search patterns, this is a significant issue for people. I’m a big believer in knowledge translation, and it’s clear to me that we can make research, science and care better if we listen to what our caregivers are telling us through methods such as this.”

The project’s two other themes are “education and training in knowledge translation” and establishing a “Canadian dementia resource and knowledge exchange.” The former will involve a training program for PhD students and medical postdocs to encourage knowledge translation, while the latter will facilitate stronger lines of communication between clinicians and researchers across Canada.

“This is an ambitious project,” admits Dr. Rockwood, but he’s optimistic that the project will lead to improved outcomes for all parties confronting the issues of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“Our three themes should allow us to get better and more comprehensive information to research trainees, front-line professionals and people with dementia and those who care for them.”

The CDKTN is made possible through the Cognitive Impairment in Aging Partnership led by the CIHR Institute of Aging. This partnership includes the Alzheimer Society of Canada; CIHR Knowledge Translation Branch; CIHR Institute of Gender and Health; CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addictions; CIHR Ethics Office; Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care; and is supported by AstraZeneca Canada Inc. and Pfizer Inc.