SPPC Annual Conference 2023

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and a Senior Scientist and CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute.

His research has extensively examined palliative and end-of-life care experiences for patients and their families. His more than 300 career publications have broached diverse topics such as depression, quality-of-life, suicide, vulnerability, spirituality, and existential distress towards end-of-life. He has also led a large program of research targeting issues related to dignity within the healthcare setting, which includes the development and study of Dignity Therapy.  He is the co-founder of the Canadian Virtual Hospice and co-editor of The Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine (Oxford University Press).  His latest book is entitled Dignity in Care: The Human Side of Medicine, published by Oxford University Press. He has been the recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the Canadian Medical Association’s highest recognition, the FNG Starr Award. He is an Order of Manitoba recipient and an Officer in the Order of Canada. In 2020 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

Check out Harvey's presentation here

Erica Borgstrom

Professor Erica Borgstrom is a Professor of Medical Anthropology at The Open University (OU), where she specialises in death studies and leads Open Thanatology. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

Her research predominately examines, often using ethnographic methods, how palliative and end of life care are practiced and structured. As such, her work juxtaposes policy, practice, and people’s everyday experiences. She is an internationally recognised leader in this field and contributes to a range of research and teaching in this area. Based on the ethnographic findings of her research, she has produced several films and animations, including with OpenLearn and the BBC.

Outside of the OU, Prof Borgstrom is co-editor in chief of Mortality (an international, interdisciplinary journal of death studies), co-editor of the book series Death and Culture (published by Bristol University Press), and a council member for the Association for the Study of Death and Society.

Check out Erica's presentation here

Kirsty Cartin

Kirsty Cartin is currently the manager of Rashielee Care Home, Erskine.

A career care home nurse, having worked in the sector for over 20 years, Kirsty is passionate about unleashing the potential of care homes as places where residents are supported to live well and die well.

Kirsty is currently undertaking the Queens Nurse Leadership Development Programme and regularly challenges the perception of care homes through her twitter account @Justacarehomeg1

Aileen Collier

Dr Aileen Collier holds a joint appointment with the Research Centre for Palliative Care Death and Dying (RePaDD) Flinders University and the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) as Associate Professor in Palliative Care and Aged Care Nursing. 

She has worked as a specialist palliative care nurse in a diverse range of settings and in numerous countries. Her research program is focused on safety, quality and equity of palliative care.

Aileen is also passionate about building research capacity in palliative and end-of-life care. Her research interests and teaching philosophy undergirds a commitment to her practical work, with moral and pragmatic questions always being anchored to clinical 'realities'. She is interdisciplinary in inclination and is an advocate of research that brings together diverse disciplines, clinicians, patients, families and communities in response to ‘wicked’ problems.  When not at work you’ll find Aileen out in the field or on the trail with her horses.

Check out Aileen's pleanary session here

Check out Aileen's Workshop C presentation here

Jane Douglas

Dr Jane Douglas QN RN LLB MSc PhD, Dip H/SW is currently working for her own consultancy as an Independent Nurse Advisor and is a visiting lecturer with Queen Margaret University.

Jane has had a varied and diverse nursing career and was Principal Assistant with Scottish Borders Council and was the strategic lead and lead commissioner for older people living with dementia, and the lead commissioner. She then become Chief Executive for a registered charity in the Scottish Borders, where she led on a new design and development for small care houses to support people who are living with dementia and led the organisation to achieve Investors in People silver accreditation along with winning the Scottish Care Award for Care Home Provider of the Year, 2019 & 2020.  In 2019 Jane was awarded the Queen’s Nurse title. Jane follows a rights-based approach to care, support and leadership based around Self-determination Theory. 

Nancy Preston

Professor Nancy Preston is Co-Director of the International Observatory on End-of-Life Care and Professor of Supportive and Palliative Care at Lancaster University.

Her research focusses on integrating palliative care into all aspects of health care, including non-cancer settings such as care homes. She also conducts research into decision making at the end of life.

She has been involved in several EU studies about palliative care including a five-year study on the use of palliative sedation across Europe.

She has edited four books and published over 150 journal articles.

She is the Section Editor for BMC Palliative Care.

Check out Nancy's presentation here

Katherine Sleeman

Professor Katherine Sleeman is the Laing Galazka Chair in Palliative Care, at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King's College London, and an Honorary Consultant in Palliative Medicine at King's College Hospital NHS Trust.

Katherine's research uses a variety of methods, particularly routine data analysis, and focuses on the intersection between palliative care and policy. She leads the Marie Curie Better End of Life programme, and from January 2024 will be the Director of the new NIHR Policy Research Unit for palliative and end of life care. In 2019 Katherine received the inaugural Women in Palliative Care award from the European Association of Palliative Care, and in 2020 she received a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust fellowship to strengthen public and policy engagement in palliative care.

Laura Green