Debra Morgan PhD
Professor Emeritus - Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health- Address
- 104 Clinic Place, P.O. Box 23, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 2Z4
Background
Dr. Morgan is Professor Emeritus at the Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health (CCRAH) at the University of Saskatchewan, retiring in 2025. She was the lead of the Rural Dementia Action Research (RaDAR) team, focused on rural health delivery for dementia. Her work includes leading the development of the Rural and Remote Memory Clinic (RRMC) located at the CCRAH since 2004. Initially a CIHR-funded research demonstration project, the clinic has since been funded by the Ministry of Health. The interprofessional one-stop clinic provides diagnosis and management of complex, atypical dementias for individuals living in rural Saskatchewan, and was an early adopter of telehealth for follow-up appointments.
After observing that many referrals to the specialist memory clinic were for Alzheimer Disease, which guidelines recommend be diagnosed in primary care, RaDAR began collaborating with rural primary health care teams to develop and implement interprofessional memory clinics led by local health care providers. These clinics are now running in 10 rural communities, with further expansion planned as we engage with new teams.
Dr. Morgan was the Rural Lead of Team 20 (Dementia Care in Rural and Indigenous Populations) in the CIHR Canadian Consortium in Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA Phase 1, 2014 to 2019). In Phase 2 of CCNA (2019-2024) she was co-lead of Team 15 (formerly CCNA Team 20) with Dr. Megan O'Connell. Dr. Morgan leads a CIHR Foundation Grant “Design and evaluation of integrated primary health care practices for dementia in rural and remote settings” (2016-2026).
From 2008-2024 Dr. Morgan organized an annual Rural Dementia Summit, to bring together stakeholders from across the province, Canada, and internationally to share research and best practices in rural dementia care. Participants include people living with dementia, family members, front-line healthcare providers, managers, researchers, students, and the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan. The Summit is continuing under the leadership of Dr. Julie Kosteniuk (CCRAH) and Dr. Allison Cammer (Pharmacy & Nutrition).
Areas of Interest
- Rural health service delivery for individuals with dementia and their caregivers
- Primary healthcare and chronic disease management models for dementia care in rural and remote settings
- Integrated knowledge translation and exchange