Elisabeth Antifeau - Nelson Honoree

2020 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's

Elisabeth Antifeau has devoted much of her professional career to supporting people affected by dementia. Born of her own compassion, she’s done research and developed educational tools for health-care providers, empowering them with knowledge to improve quality of life for countless people living with dementia. Elisabeth, who is now a Clinical Nurse Specialist in palliative care, has worked hard to create the systemic changes that have set the stage for the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s work to improve the lives of people affected by dementia.

“As health-care providers we are doing much better now in caring for people living with dementia and their families,” Elisabeth says. “Better knowledge. Providing more choice and options and being gentle in our daily approaches. Although we have come a long way, we need to continue to strive towards new learning, growth and improvements in the care that is given throughout the dementia journey.”

Over her 41-year professional nursing career, Elisabeth has taken on many roles caring for people living with dementia in the province, including several years as a Practice Lead for Seniors Care within Interior Health when she created the “Phased Dementia Pathway ” for interprofessional health-care teams. Then, she and Dr. Carol Ward created the “Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) ,” an online, interactive tool to help health-care providers problem-solve and care plan for people with behavioural symptoms of dementia. Both resources remain a go-to source of information for care providers and their use provincially has helped to reduce the overuse of antipsychotic drugs. Elisabeth has also studied caregiver stress and created educational resources for caregivers of adults living with both intellectual disabilities and dementia.

“Elisabeth speaks the language of the health-care system – and she has the heart of a caregiver,” says Barbara Lindsay, Director of Advocacy & Education and Marketing & Communications for the Alzheimer Society of B.C. “The tools the Society provides to people caring for someone living with dementia – both at work and at home – are only possible because of what Elisabeth and other compassionate advocates within the health-care system have done.”

Over the past seven years, Elisabeth has felt the need to provide the best care possible for people affected by dementia and their families even more directly. She has cared for three family members, two with dementia, and she remains the primary caregiver for her mother, who lives with both Lewy body and frontotemporal dementia. She has experienced first-hand the expectation put on caregivers.

“Everybody says, ‘Take care of yourself,’ and it’s well meaning, but when you’re in the throes of caregiving, sometimes it’s just more pressure,” she says. “I would suggest that it is helpful if people ask: ‘How can I help you? What can I do to assist you in some way?’ Those small gestures build compassionate communities. Coming together with acts of kindness – that’s what we all need.”

Elisabeth continues to advocate for systemic changes, with hopes of improved dementia care and ongoing investment in research. Her biggest hope, however, is for all British Columbians: “I hope that as a society we can be a little bit more informed about dementia and through that understanding, act compassionately towards those that touch our lives.”

Join Elisabeth this May for the Nelson IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's. Together, we make memories matter.