Linda J Garcia

• Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences (Speech-Language Pathology)
• Head of Faculty at University of Ottawa

For people living with dementia, staying connected and engaging in meaningful activities can have a considerable impact on their quality of life. However, people living with dementia are often subject to dementia‐related stigma putting them at increased risk of social isolation. For care partners who might be struggling emotionally and physically,...

The active involvement of older people in the development of age-friendly environments has been strongly recommended. However, participatory methods with older adults remain underutilised even though older people may be more qualified to recommend what makes an age-friendly space. Using a citizen science approach in research involving older adults...

In Canada there are over 500,000 persons living with dementia with prevalence estimates reaching as high as 912,000 by the year 2030. Given that age is the strongest known predictor of dementia and the fact that our population is ageing, there is an urgent need to create communities that promote older adults (including those living with dementia) r...

An earlier initiative involving various stakeholders in the air travel industry, disability advocates, researchers, and individuals living with dementia and their travel partners identified five key areas to reduce the challenges faced by travellers living with cognitive limitations: there was a need for information and awareness on the topic, a di...

A proper understanding of the relationship between people living with dementia (PLWD) and their care partners across the dementia trajectory provides an opportunity to better meet their healthcare needs. However, few studies in Canada have explored the nature of this relationship, considering the well-being of both parties simultaneously. There is...

Background: There is still a need for more information about the different trajectories of responsive behaviours that people living with dementia present in long-term care homes (LTC). Objective: This study identified subgroups of individuals with similar trajectories of responsive behaviours related to dementia in LTC and evaluated the role of...

BACKGROUND A common problem among healthcare practitioners (HCPs) for persons with dementia is difficult behaviours associated with dementia, which cause burnout and stress. One intervention to help HCPs de-escalate these behaviours is virtual reality (VR) trainings, which simulate those stressful behaviours. However, current VR trainings lack impo...

For individuals living in long-term care (LTC), loneliness is often a concern. With the COVID-19 pandemic, this is only exacerbated as strict restrictions are put in place on visits between residents and their loved ones and on volunteer presence. Understanding how these changes affect residents, family caregivers, and volunteers is paramount to be...

The relationship between individuals living with dementia and their caregivers is important and can impact their dementia journey. However, limited national longitudinal data exists about the caregiver-person living with dementia dyad. Availability of such data would provide important information about joint trajectories and help to better identify...

Policies supporting caregivers (“caregiver policies”) are limited in the extent to which they meet the needs of those who care for others. Where policies do exist, they focus on relieving the burdens associated with caring or the needs of the person they care for, rather than consider the holistic needs of the caregiver that would enable them to fl...

Introduction: Traditional methods of research have frequently failed to accommodate the communication difficulties experienced by a significant proportion of residents living in long-term care. In dementia research, specifically, there is cause for more collaborative, creative ways of working. Methods: The Linking Lives Through Care study is a perf...

The goal of this commentary is to highlight the ageism that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 20 international researchers in the field of aging have contributed to this document. This commentary discusses how older people are misrepresented and undervalued in the current public discourse surrounding the pandemic. It points to issues i...

The goal of this commentary is to highlight the ageism that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 20 international researchers in the field of ageing have contributed to this document. This commentary discusses how older people are misrepresented and undervalued in the current public discourse surrounding the pandemic. It points to issues...

Evidence-Informed Approaches for Managing Dementia Transitions provides evidence-informed approaches and future directions for supporting a higher quality of life for people living with dementia. Through a person-centered lens, this book equips care providers to better help people living with dementia align their expectations and hopes with the tra...

Background The trajectory of dementia through time is characterized by common transitions which are difficult for persons with dementia (PWDs) and their families and friends. Our study sought to identify determinants for the quality of transition outcomes.MethodA 24-month, prospective, longitudinal design identified specific transitions as they occ...

This review examines the benefits of intergenerational interactions between youth volunteers and residents of long-term care homes. Five articles met the criteria for review. Benefits for youth included developing new communication and career-related skills, improved attitudes toward older adults, and the development of meaningful relationships and...

Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias constitute a major and growing challenge to the wellbeing of individuals, families and society in the United States and Canada. The prevalence of dementia in the US is projected to almost triple from 5 million persons now to 14 million by mid-century. In Canada, the number of persons affected will nearly do...

Person-centred care (PCC) is designed to focus care delivery on the needs and preferences of the individual. Transferring PCC principles into practice is especially difficult when staffing levels are insufficient to allow time to respond to individual needs. The objective of this project was to develop and implement a volunteer program that sensiti...

Although there has been an increase in programs addressing responsive behaviours (RB) related to dementia, more is needed as caregivers still face difficulties in real-life situations. Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to give a more lifelike feel to anxiety-provoking training situations by adding psychological realism and an element of stress to...

Challenges associated with end of life care of persons with dementia include the protracted and unpredictable trajectory; pain and symptom management; and demands on families to be proxy decision-makers in the context of high burden and chronic grief. This study explored the extent to which family carers' expectations were met during end of life of...

this publication is an asbtract of a communication presented in July 2016

Background Dementia is common, particularly among older adults, and is one of the major causes of dependency later in life. We sought to provide an overview and comparison of key services related to dementia care as the disease progresses in three large Canadian healthcare centres. Methods We identified family physicians, geriatric specialists, and...

The current study examines the longitudinal relationship between dementia-related challenging behaviors (e.g., vocal disruption, physical aggression, repetitive behaviors, and restlessness) and cognitive functioning in the long-term care (LTC) context. A multivariate latent growth curve model within the structural equation modeling (SEM) framework...

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the perceived experiences of caregivers and persons with dementia (PWD) during key periods of transition from one phase of the dementia journey to the other or from one care environment to another with a focus on the care of PWD, support of caregivers and improvement of health care efficiency. Me...

Our cross-cultural Pathways study explore the pre-diagnosis period of Alzheimer's Disease and related Dementias in Canada's four major ethno-linguistic groups across four Canadian cities. In total, we conducted separate qualitative interviews with 27 persons with dementia and 32 of their family caregivers. Previous analyses of these data reported o...

Urban centers are increasingly ethnically diverse. However, some visible minorities are less likely than their majority counterparts to seek and receive services and treatment for dementia. This study explored experiences of South Asian Canadians, Canada's largest visible minority group, prior to dementia diagnosis. Six persons with dementia and ei...

Purpose of the Study: As the prevalence of dementia increases, the pressure to make early diagnoses also increases. Although patients must be able to identify the symptoms to access appropriate services, they may not be equally accessible to all citizens in a multicultural society. Health care professionals and patients may lack a common "first lan...

With the aging of the population and the projected increase of dementia in the coming years, it is crucial that we understand the needs of people with dementia (PWD) in order to provide appropriate care. The aim of this study is to determine, using the best evidence possible, the care needs of PWD living in long-term care (LTC). A total of 68 studi...

This study examined the adjustment needs and efforts of individuals with dementia after relocation to a residential care facility. This was a qualitative prospective study that involved in-depth face-toface interviews with 16 individuals with dementia and their family caregivers at 2 and 6 months post-relocation. In their efforts to recreate a sens...

Disruptive behaviors are frequent and often the first predictor of institutionalization. The goal of this multi-center study was to explore the perceptions of family and staff members on the potential contribution of environmental factors that influence disruptive behaviors and quality of life of residents with dementia living in long-term care hom...

Increasing evidence suggests that early diagnosis and management of dementia-related symptoms may improve the quality of life for patients and their families. However, individuals may wait from 1-3 years from the onset of symptoms before receiving a diagnosis. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of...

The aim of this study was to examine the impact on dementia caregivers' experienced stress and health status of 2 Internet-based intervention programs. Ninety-one dementia caregivers were given the choice of being involved in either an Internet-based chat support group or an Internet-based video conferencing support group. Pre-post outcome measures...

Efforts to understand pathways to a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) are important in light of the benefits of early diagnosis to both patients and families, but very little is known about the ways in which persons with dementia and their family caregivers experience this pathway from the point of initial symptom recogn...

The sociophysical home environment is an integral component of everyday coping, self-identity, and well-being for individuals with dementia; however, residential discontinuity is a common experience for many of these individuals. This article examined the meanings, functions, and experiences associated with living at home for individuals with demen...

This study explored the perspectives of persons with dementia (PWD) on the meanings and experiences associated with relocation to a residential care facility (RCF). A qualitative design was employed, which involved in-depth interviews with 16 PWD at their homes within two months prior to relocation. The work of Strauss and Corbin guided the analysi...

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who work with adults with cognitive-linguistic impairments, including aphasia, have long needed an assessment tool that predicts ability to function in the real world. In this article, it is argued that virtual reality (VR)-supported approaches can address this need. Using models of disability such as the Interna...

Unlabelled: Little evidence-based research has been published within the field of communication disorders on the role of dogs as catalysts for human communication. This single participant study, a point of entry into this realm of research, explores the effects of a therapy dog on the communication skills of a patient with aphasia receiving intens...

Standardized evaluation tools are very important for making precise and justifiable diagnoses. However, in French, there are significantly fewer standardized tools from which the clinician may choose. At the present time, there is little data on the nature and use of these tools in areas of language, speech and hearing in French areas across Canada...

Background: The Boston Naming Test is widely used in several versions and languages. However, there are few studies of its use with bilingual adults. A recent study by Kohnert, Hernandez, and Bates (1998) found that Spanish/English bilingual adults scored well below unilingual adults. Aims: This study tested two hypotheses. (1) Fluently bilingual a...

Unlabelled: The ability to obtain and maintain employment is one of society's most valued life participation events and is often considered in measurements of quality of life (QOL). Many workplaces now require good communication skills and this may jeopardize the opportunity for persons with communication disorders (CD) to access interesting jobs....

This study examines the effects of tonal and rhythmic components of a melody-based intervention on the repetition abilities of two individuals with non-fluent aphasia. The subjects presented lesions restricted to the left hemisphere and showed moderate to severe limitations on repetition tasks. An alternate-treatment design was used where pre-recor...

Describing problems of relevance in clinical populations has been a subject of interest for both theoreticians and clinicians. The argument that conversational relevance is a product of listener interpretation is supported in the present paper. Study 1 examines the topic-shifting profiles of a social worker in conversation with normal elderly parti...

The Handicap Creation Process Model (HCPM) suggests that persons with disabilities may experience difficulties at work because of environmental barriers. The present study reports on the perceptions of persons with aphasia, of speech-language pathologists and of employers regarding the potential barriers to job (re)integration. Statements were gath...

Aphasia has an effect on both the transactional functions (e.g. exchanging information) and the interactional functions (e.g. establishing relationships) of communication. The goal of the present study was to explore the perceptions of physicians, spouses and adolescents of the effect of aphasia on both functions of communication and to identify th...

Laroche, C, Garcia, L., Barrette, J., Desjardins, M., Lefrançois, R. & Barbier, S. (1999). Processus de révision du MQE pour les individus avec troubles de la communication en milieu de travail. Réseau international de la CIDIH et facteurs environnementaux. Actes du colloque de Québec: Les applications du Processus de production du handicap, 10, 31...

Investigation into the natural conversational discourse of patients with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type has received minimal attention, in part due to the inherent methodological problems. There are no satisfactory theoretical models of conversation; existing global checklists give minimal information on meaning relationships and analysis of conver...

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