TREC held a policy forum on Quality of Life for residents living with dementia in Alberta’s health-funded congregate care settings, on October 9 at the University of Alberta with a variety of stakeholder groups in attendance. The purpose of the forum was to develop a framework for improving quality of life for persons with moderate to severe dementia living in long-term care homes and designated supportive living settings in the province. Around 40 participants were on hand including citizens living with dementia and their caregivers; long-term care home owner-operators and corporate-level managers; government representatives from the Ministries of Health and Seniors and Housing; Alberta Health Services representatives; non-profit organizations and academic researchers.

TREC Trainee and Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing Honours Student, Brittany DeGraves, completed a summer internship at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She studied innovative Dutch Green Care Farms for individuals with dementia. She secured funding by the Mitacs Globalink Research Grant which helped her to work on two studies, a scoping review and a semi-structured interview study focused on palliative care in these innovative facilities. During the summer, Brittany worked with Dr. Judith Meijers and Dr. Hilde Verbeek. She was able to visit care farms across the Netherlands, and interviewed direct caregivers and managers, which provided her with the unique opportunity to see how these facilities operate. Living and working in the Netherlands, Brittany made international connections, visited neighboring countries, and gained valuable research experience. She is currently working on her Undergraduate Thesis with Dr. Carole Estabrooks and will present a webinar on her research in the next few weeks.

We are looking for highly qualified individuals to fill two full time postdoctoral positions in Edmonton. These positions will work specifically on the new CIHR funded grant, The Influence of Context on Implementation and Improvement (ICII).