According to a recent report from the Ontario Long Term Care Association, approximately 64% of residents living in long term care have been diagnosed with dementia and 90% have some form of cognitive impairment.
This is one of the first areas that the Government should consider covering.
Not only have we seen that cannabinoid medicines have a strong treatment success rate, they have a safer side-effect profile compared to other traditionally used medications and are multi-modal, meaning we can often treat more than one symptom at a time and reduce other meds. This is super important amongst the elderly, as polypharmacy (taking multiple medications) is the number one cause of hospitalizations due to adverse drug reactions amongst seniors.
So, not only can we improve quality of life and decrease side-effects through cannabinoid therapy, we can often reduce other medications, which has an inherent cost savings. Who else sees this as a win-win?