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Sponsors for the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest

Dr. David K. Conn

Dr. David K. Conn, MB, FRCPC, is the vice-president of Education and inaugural director of the Centre for Education and Knowledge Exchange in Aging at Baycrest, and a professor in the department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is the founding co-chair of the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health, and is chair of the Coalition’s National Guidelines project. As well, he is the medical director of the Mood and Related Disorders Clinic and of Telehealth Services at Baycrest. Dr. Conn is executive co-sponsor of The Ontario CLRI.

His academic interests include nursing home psychiatry, guideline development and late life mood disorders. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 publications and is the co-editor of three textbooks including Practical Psychiatry in the Long-Term Care Home: A Handbook for Staff. He is currently a board member of the International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) and chairs the IPA Task Force on Mental Health services to Long-Term Care Homes.

He has received many awards including the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry Award for Outstanding Contributions to Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada, Distinguished Service Award from the International Psychogeriatric Association, the Ivan Silver Award for Excellence in Continuing Mental Health Education and the Henry Durost Award for Excellence in Creative Professional Activity in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. In 2010, he was a co-recipient of the CIHR Betty Havens Award for Knowledge Translation in Aging.

Faith Boutcher, BN, MSc, RN

Faith Boutcher is the director of Academic Education and Interprofessional Education, the Centre for Education and Knowledge Exchange in Aging, at Baycrest. She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1987 and a Masters of Science, with a specialty in psychiatric/mental health nursing, from the Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto in 1992. She is also a 2008 Fellow of the EXTRA program, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. Faith provides administrative oversight for The Program.

Faith is an experienced advanced practice nurse in mental health and has held administrative positions in professional practice, research and education. She holds appointments with the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto and the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University. Her clinical expertise and scholarly activity is in the areas of clinical research integration, interprofessional education and care and professional practice.

The Ontario CLRI at Baycrest Team

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Raquel Meyer, PhD, RN

Manager

As Manager of the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest, Dr. Meyer leads the development, implementation, management and evaluation of the Centre. Raquel is an assistant professor (status) at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing where she completed her doctoral studies and graduate training awards in health services research and policy. She was also the recipient of a Nursing Early Career Research Award through the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Dr. Meyer’s research centers on healthcare management, health human resources, educational innovation and care delivery models. Raquel is an enthusiastic proponent for the relevance of research to clinical practice, education, leadership and policy development.


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Shoshana Helfenbaum, MSW, RSW

Interprofessional Educator

Shoshana is an interprofessional educator the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest. She has worked with non-profits, corporations, educational institutions and professional organizations in various capacities as an educator, program coordinator, and content/marketing and communications specialist. This included creating on-line course content and collaborating among stakeholders for special projects and marketing campaigns.

As a Geriatric Social Worker, Shoshana has 20 years of experience as a clinician and psychotherapist in community settings, long-term care and private practice.  Her most current training is in solution focused and problem solving therapies and simulation techniques for caregivers of dementia patients. In addition, Shoshana has a background in opera, musical performance, theatre and expressive arts therapy.

Shoshana received her Master of Social Work degree (1997) and Diploma in Gerontology (2001) from the University of Toronto, and her Specialized Honours Bachelor’s Degree in developmental psychology from York University (1995).


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Melissa Tafler, MSW, RSW

Interprofessional Arts-based Learning Specialist

Melissa is an interprofessional arts-based learning specialist at the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest. She also holds positions as a social work clinician in the Baycrest Hospital and as a clinical research coordinator at Baycrest.

Melissa’s role includes integration of the arts in to clinical education and training for staff and students within the CLRI. She has worked with professional artists from a variety of different mediums to develop curriculum that uses the arts to teach clinical and reflective skills. She is a strong proponent for the importance of embedding creativity into education and health care, and finding the artist in each of us! She also recently completed a three-year mixed method study in collaboration with Royal Conservatory on examining the impact of engaging in the arts on the cognitive and psychosocial health of older adults. Melissa is currently spearheading workshops on using applied social theatre to develop interprofessional competencies in health care teams, and visual thinking strategies to enhance observational skills in long-term care staff.

Melissa received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto in 1998.


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Daniel Galessiere, MScPT, BScKin

Interprofessional Educator

Daniel is an interprofessional educator for the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest. As a practicing physiotherapist, Daniel has 12 years of experience as a clinician in both the private clinic and geriatric hospital settings, with a focus in complex continuing care.  Additionally, Daniel has served as preceptor to physiotherapy students from McMaster University and the University of Toronto and has presented at the Canadian Physiotherapy Association National Conference on the topic of the impact of ongoing physiotherapy on clients in complex continuing care.
 
Daniel received his Master of Physiotherapy degree (2005) from McMaster University and his Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology from York University (1999).  He also has a background in theatre and many years of experience teaching and performing in the vocal arts.


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Stacey Guy, PhD(C), MSocSc

Knowledge Broker

Stacey is passionate about improving the services we receive as users of the health care system. She contributes to the change in health care delivery by facilitating change at individual, interpersonal and systems levels through the use of implementation science and knowledge translation. She also enjoys 1) mobilizing patient and public engagement 2) First Nations, Metis and Inuit allyship, 3) and supporting women’s leadership.
 
She has worked in healthcare, ranging from a more research focused role to supporting clinical teams, for over 10 ten years. Stacey enjoys building capacity for disseminating, adopting and implementing interventions in health care professionals, researchers, and management. She has chosen to specialize in rehabilitation, and long-term care settings. Stacey is a PhD candidate with a focus on behavior change, specifically clinical practice implementation amongst clinical teams.