Volunteer

Benefits of Volunteering

Volunteers are essential for our organization to accomplish its mission. We need your time, energy and enthusiasm. When you choose to make a difference, it is not just the Society and your community that benefits, but yourself as well. Check out below all these great reasons to get involved!

Improve lives

• Whether it’s to help those with dementia, their caregivers or families, make a difference in your community

Share your knowledge

• We are always looking to our volunteers for new ideas, insights and experiences

Be a source of support

• Whether its through raising money, awareness or helping to deliver programs at your local Society, volunteering supports those with dementia and their families.

Learn new skills

• Gain practical experience and advance your career

Become engaged in your community

• By volunteering, you will have to chance to meet new people, connect with your community and make memories to last a lifetime

Have fun!

• Volunteering is a great way to leave the house and make a difference while having fun in the process

Be a champion for dementia

• Advocate for our cause by contacting your local politician and demanding government action.

Volunteer Opportunities

Make a difference by volunteering with the Alzheimer Society. We need people of all ages, skills, and interests to plan, coordinate, teach, speak, innovate, lead, create, inspire, build, advocate, organize, investigate, meet and greet, answer phones, motivate, and more. And with flexible time commitments, we can accommodate all your schedule. Look below to see how to help.

Fundraising – You can help out in any number of ways with fundraising events like the annual Coffee Break Campaign, the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's, Golf Tournaments or other third party events that we participate in.

Leadership - Volunteer as a member of our board.

Support Group Facilitation - Lead a support group with Care Partners and/or people diagnosed, in a group setting.

Program Volunteers - If you have a particular skill or expertise (are you an artist, a fitness buff, a musician etc) that might be of interest to our Program Coordinators and clients, please let us know. Occasionally we also require extra help with outings or social events, recreational activities and we often use volunteers to assist with these types of activities.

If you would like to apply to become a volunteer with Alzheimer Society of KFLA, please the link for the volunteer application form here, https://forms.office.com/r/AvEJHqaHU8

Participate in Research

Clinical research uses human volunteers to study the effects of an exposure (for example, a drug or behavior) on a health outcome (for example, blood pressure, symptom relief or improved quality of life). The knowledge we gain through clinical research helps improve the ways we can prevent, diagnose and treat disease.

There are two main types of clinical studies you might be interested in being involved with:

• Clinical trials: These studies examine the effects of an experimental intervention, delivered as part of the trial. Interventions can include new drugs, devices or ways to receive health-care, as well as things like changes in behaviour, such as diet and exercise programs. People in the trial may be assigned to receive the intervention, or not, to compare health outcomes between the people in each group.
• Observational studies: Participating in these studies involves interviews and/or tests. The key difference with clinical trials is that participants in observational studies are not assigned to receive an experimental intervention as part of the study.

There are potential risks and benefits to participating in any kind of research. It is important that you understand both before participating in a research study.

• Download our full brochure on participating in research
• This checklist of questions to ask is meant to help you make the best decision, for you and your family, about participating in research. We suggest that you use this sheet to take notes of the details of each clinical research study that interests you. Many of these questions will require a detailed conversation with someone working on the study.
• You can also check out Alzheimer's Disease International's guide to getting involved in clinical trials

Some places to learn more about research studies you might become involved with include:

• Health Canada
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• The Consortium of Canadian Centres for Clinical Cognitive Research (C5R)
• Your local hospital or health science centre
• Your health-care providers (e.g., family physician)