Designing Supports for Caregivers of People with Dementia
Helping People Who Help Others
Caregivers of people with dementia are tasked with navigating a fragmented healthcare system and helping their loved ones through a wide range of personal, financial, and health related decisions and challenges. This can be taxing, isolating, and tiring, especially when it is difficult to find the tailored support you need.
J5 guided Gordie Howe CARES through a service design process that combined decades of academic research and unique strategic insights, driving transformational action. Together, we co-created a new business model for the organization and designed three distinct services that now define the organization’s impact: (1) research programs that uncover new knowledge about caregiver needs, (2) digital self-service resources that give families accessible guidance whenever they need it, and (3) a clinical service that provides navigation, respite, and cognitive therapy for both caregivers and people living with dementia.
INDUSTRY
Healthcare, Non-Profit
CLIENT
Gordie Howe CARES
WHY IT MATTERS
Caregiving can be isolating, but it is also something that no person can do alone. We worked with the Gordie Howe CARES board, providing a structure, methodology, and process that helped leaders make confident decisions and translate their vision into three tangible services. As a result, people living with dementia and their loved ones now experience stronger support, with better access to the right resources when they need them. By focusing on caregivers, not only patients, Gordie Howe CARES shifted from funding innovative health solutions to delivering them, building a foundation for sustainable organizational impact.
Impact
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User Level
Ripples, a free support resource for caregivers has reached over 6,000 caregivers.
The Caregiver Pilot Program achieved a 95% reduction in caregiver depression and caregiver burden scores, demonstrating significant improvements in caregiver wellbeing and mental health.
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Organizational Level
Sustained fundraising success has tripled the number of families accessing GHC services, broadening reach, equity, and support.
Year-over-year donation growth enabled GHC to double research investments with the University of Calgary, advancing evidence-based caregiver supports.
