Conference speakers
Dr Alejandro R. Jadad, MD DPhil FRCPC FCHAS
Dr. Jadad holds the Canada Research Chair in eHealth Innovation at the University of Toronto and the University Health Network, where he is the Chief Innovator and Founder of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation. He is also a Professor in the Department of Anesthesia, in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.
He is a physician, innovator, educator and public advocate whose mission is to optimise health and wellness for all, thorough the innovative use of information and communication technologies.
His research and innovation work focuses on virtual tools to support the encounter between the public and the health system (with emphasis on the management of polypathologies); interactive tools to promote knowledge translation and mentorship of health professionals and the public; and online resources to support social networks, to respond to major public health threats (e.g., chronic conditions, pandemics), to support international collaboration, and to enable the public (particularly young people) to shape the health system and society.
Professor Phil Hanlon
Phil Hanlon was educated in the West of Scotland and graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1978.
Following a period when he gained clinical experience in adult medicine and general practice, he took up a research post with the Medical Research Council in the Gambia, West Africa. On returning to the UK he completed a period of training in public health after which he was appointed to the post of Director of Health Promotion with The Greater Glasgow Health Board. In 1994 Phil moved to become a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Glasgow and was promoted to Professor in 1999. Between January 2001 and April 2003 Phil undertook a secondment to establish the Public Health Institute of Scotland.
Current research interest include ‘culture and health’, uses of integrated public health data and evaluation of complex public health interventions.
Professor Julian C Hughes
Julian C. Hughes is a Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry in Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Professor of Philosophy of Ageing at the Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University. He has studied Philosophy at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His writings and research focus on philosophical and ethical issues raised in connection with ageing and dementia. He has a particular interest in palliative care in dementia. He has advised, chaired or served on committees or working parties of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, NICE and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Edited, co-edited or co-authored books include: Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person (OUP, 2006), Palliative Care in Severe Dementia (Quay Books, 2006), Ethical Issues in Dementia Care: Making Difficult Decisions (Jessica Kingsley, 2006), Supportive Care for the Person with Dementia (OUP, 2010). In February 2011, his book, Thinking Through Dementia (OUP), was published. And a new book, Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias: The Facts, is also scheduled to be published by Oxford University Press in September 2011.
Dr Hilary Pinnock, MB ChB, MRCGP, MD
Dr Hilary Pinnock is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow with the Allergy and Respiratory Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh where she is supported by a Primary Care Research Career Award from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. She is also a Principal in General Practice, at the Whitstable Medical Practice, Kent.
Her research interests focus on:
- The delivery of respiratory care within the ‘real-life’ primary care setting including evaluating telephone reviews for asthma, and tele-monitoring of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- The palliative care needs of people with COPD.
- The role of GPs with a Special Interest and the organisation of respiratory care
- The impact of IT on the consultation
She is co-lead of the education subgroup of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group, and is actively involved in the education programme of the Primary Care Respiratory Society UK. She chairs the self-management evidence review group of the BTS SIGN asthma guideline, and is a member of the acute External Reference Group for the English COPD National Clinical Strategy.
The Hearts and Minds Elderflowers
The Hearts & Minds Elderflowers programme uses the performing arts to address and overcome challenges in communicating and engaging with elderly people who are affected by dementia. Elderflowers practitioners are professional performers who are trained to work with vulnerable people in a health care environment. They use the performing arts as a starting point for verbal and non-verbal communication and aim to improve the quality of life and well-being of those in dementia care. The strength of the unique Elderflowers family concept is the provision of a safe environment for exploring a variety of themes as well as emotions. (Photograph by Colin Dixon.)
Alison Blair
Alison is Activities Co-ordinator at the Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS). She is a qualified Play Specialist with 15 years experience of working within Rachel House Children’s Hospice. As the Activities Coordinator she is also part of the Family Support Team who offer emotional support to children, young people and their families’ pre and post bereavement. However her main field of responsibility is leading a small team in providing a range of activities, outings and programme of events for families at Rachel House. Alison has a particular interest in working with Young Adults and serves as an advocate on CHAS’s Young Adult Council which informs CHAS and the wider community of the needs and aspirations of Young people living with a life limiting condition.
Adrienne Betteley BSc (Hons) Specialist Practitioner, RN (adult), Dip H.E
Adrienne is Palliative and End of Life Care Programme Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support, which is a UK wide role and she commenced in post in January 2011. Prior to this Adrienne worked in the NHS for 16 years primarily as a nurse, where she has worked in a variety of sectors, including care homes, acute medicine in a District General Hospital, however most of her clinical time was spent working as a District Nursing Sister in Cheshire.
Adrienne has also worked as a programme lead for End of life Care for NHS North West and Merseyside and Cheshire Cancer Network. She has been a member of the national team for Preferred Priorities for Care (formerly known as Preferred Place of Care) since 2006. Adrienne has also been proactive within the Royal College of Nursing both as a former North West Board member and a member of the Palliative Care Forum Steering Committee.
In her spare time Adrienne is a Trustee at St. Luke’s Cheshire Hospice. She also enjoys travel, reading, walking her 15 ½ stone Old English Mastif and fly fishing.
Dr Jeremy Keen
Dr Jeremy Keen is the Consultant Physician in Palliative Care at the Highland Hospice and has been a Consultant in Palliative Medicine for over 10 years having trained in Edinburgh and Canada. He moved from Edinburgh to Inverness in 2002.
Dr David Oxenham
Dr David Oxenham trained in palliative medicine in Edinburgh after experience in general medicine, general practice and oncology. He has worked as a consultant in hospices in Lanarkshire and New Zealand before returning to Edinburgh in 2001. He is Medical Director of the Marie Curie Hospice, Clinical Lead for Palliative Medicine for NHS Lothian and a member of council for the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. David is passionately committed to ensuring that as many people as possible benefit from palliative care and receives care that is right for them at the end of life.
Ros Scott
Qualifying originally as a radiographer Ros is Director of Organisational Development with CHAS. She has responsibility for Human Resources, Voluntary Services, Learning and Development and is project managing Young Adult Care Partnerships and Research. Ros has a particular interest in young adults with life-limiting conditions and transition. She also has a background in research, writing and publication and was co-editor of the recently published “Volunteers in Hospice and Palliative Care”. Ros is to chair a committee looking at the future of hospice volunteering in UK, and is researching the Impact of Volunteering on Hospice Sustainability as part of her Doctorate at Dundee University.
Janet Trundle
Janet is Macmillan Specialist Pharmacist in Palliative Care in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, having previously worked in community pharmacy, in acute hospitals as a clinical pharmacist, and in primary care as a prescribing adviser. Janet’s role is across all sectors of care with a mix of strategic, leadership and clinical roles. Whilst maintaining a specialist palliative care remit in several small hospices, the majority of the clinical advice Janet provides is to community teams, including those in the remote and rural areas of Argyll & Bute in NHS Highland.
Additionally, Janet currently leads a 3-year project funded by Macmillan Cancer Support to implement the recommendations from a Pharmaceutical Palliative Care Health Needs Assessment. Supported by four part-time Macmillan pharmacist facilitators and a project administrator, the project is testing the ability of a new model within community pharmacy palliative care provision to support the increasing number of patients in the community with palliative care needs, and their carers.