Students

Trina Thorne (University of Alberta) is a Doctoral student with Dr. Carole Estabrooks. She completed her MN, Adult Nurse Practitioner program with a specialization in aging. She works for Alberta Health Services in Supportive Living & Long Term Care, Edmonton Zone. Her research objective is to improve the quality of life of long term care residents. The sequelae of psychological trauma in older adults with moderate to severe dementia is insufficiently studied. A trauma informed intervention has the potential to provide guidance on how to reduce adverse responses to health services, and guidance on strategies to limit trauma responses (e.g., aggressive behaviours of dementia). The outcomes would benefit both residents and their daily care providers and could be generalized to other settings where older adults with dementia interact. She will undertake a multi-phase project providing an empirical basis for reducing trauma responses such as aggression, establishing a foundation for large scale clinical trials.

Helen Doan (University of Alberta) is a Master's Student with Dr. Carole Estabrooks. She has worked in elder care in various roles, from healthcare aide to floor nurse. Currently, Helen is a Director of Nursing at a facility where she institutes and maintains programs in collaboration with the interdisciplinary team to reduce: wounds, falls, catheters, end-of-life discomfort, over-prescribing, and inappropriate antipsychotic use. Helen's Master's project is called moonlight and looks at care aides working two or more jobs.. She is also assisting on the responsive behaviours in long-term care workpackage.