Andrea Rizk-Flores, BSc
Exploring Artificial Intelligence in Dementia Care: A Topic Modeling Review with Implications for Family Medicine Education and Practice
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping healthcare delivery, with applications that align closely with the Quintuple Aim of improving patient experience, enhancing population health, reducing costs, supporting provider well-being, and promoting equity. As the population ages and dementia prevalence rises, AI technologies – ranging from diagnostic algorithms to adaptive monitoring systems- are becoming integral to dementia care. These tools hold promise for augmenting human judgment, optimizing resources, and enhancing quality of life for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
Family physicians are often the first point of contact for patients experiencing cognitive change and play a central role in early detection, care coordination, and longitudinal management. However, increasing clinical complexity and diagnostic uncertainty contribute to cognitive burden and decision fatigue. Understanding how AI can complement, rather than complicate, the physician’s role is essential. In parallel, long-term care (LTC) settings represent key environments for innovation, where AI-based monitoring and decision-support tools may help address workforce challenges and support person-centered care.
Despite rapid technological advances, explicit training in AI remains scare in family medicine and related disciplines. Andrea’s research addresses this gap by examining how AI is currently applied and discussed in dementia care across the scientific literature, with particular attention to implications for education, practice, and LTC.
Using topic modeling, a machine learning method that identifies hidden structures and themes across large text corpora, this study maps the evolving landscape of AI and dementia research. The approach provides a scalable alternative to traditional reviews, capable of capturing the diversity of disciplines contributing to this field.
Karen Golfi, BSc
CARE DSI: Developing Training for Caregivers to Enhance Communication for Long-Term Care Residents with Sensory Impairment
Hearing and vision loss are highly prevalent among long-term care (LTC) residents, yet many frontline caregivers lack the training and tools required to communicate effectively with this population. Communication barriers related to sensory loss reduce quality of care and contribute to emotional distress and social isolation, particularly among residents living with cognitive impairment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, infection-control measures such as mandatory mask-wearing and physical distancing intensified caregiver burden and impeded effective communication. These challenges underscore the absence of standardized procedures and role-specific training programs to support LTC staff and volunteers in meeting the communication needs of residents with dual-sensory impairment. The objectives of this project are to co-create the content of bilingual, web-based communication training modules for long-term care (LTC) staff supporting residents with dual-sensory impairment by: Identifying priority communication challenges and training needs across caregiving roles; Examining role-specific perspectives on communication strategies, emotional impacts, and system-level barriers through focus groups; and Translating stakeholder-informed findings into practical, role-tailored training module content. This study used a step-by-step approach that involved working closely with LTC staff and caregivers. First, we reviewed existing research to identify important topics and created a survey where regulated providers (like nurses and therapists) and non-regulated caregivers (like orderlies and volunteers) rated the importance of different communication topics. The results of this survey were then used to guide focus group discussions, which identified key ideas and patterns, such as identifying signs of sensory impairment, adapting communication, and distinguishing sensory impairment from cognitive impairment. The resulting training modules will be grounded in real-world caregiving contexts and tailored to role-specific needs, enhancing their potential for uptake and sustainability. By improving communication practices, this intervention has the potential to reduce caregiver burden, improve quality of care, and enhance the well-being of LTC residents with dual-sensory impairment. Future work will evaluate the effectiveness of these modules in real-world settings.