RaDAR International Travels

Dr. Debra Morgan, RaDAR team lead, is on Sabbatical from January to July, 2017. As part of her sabbatical activities, she travelled to the United Kingdom and Europe and met with international collaborators working in rural dementia care.

In January she travelled to Bournemouth University in the UK to meet with Dr. Michele Board. Michele is the programme lead for the Degree and Master’s Degree on the Care of the Older Person at Bournemouth University.  In 2012 Dr. Board had travelled to Canada to meet with Debra and the RaDAR team, and to provide the keynote presentation at the 5^th Rural Demenia Summit. 

In early February Debra travelled to Austria to meet Dr. Sefanie R. Auer, Professor and head of Dementia Studies at Danube University, Krems as well as Scientific Director of the M.A.S. Alzheimerhilfe Austria. Dr. Auer and her team have established six Dementia Service Centres (DSC) in small communities throughout Upper Austria to provide regular support and treatment services. Dr. Morgan was able to visit three DSCs, in Bad Ischl, Wells, and Regau. She also gave a presentation about the RaDAR research program to a group of students and researchers at Danube University in Krems and DSC staff in Wells.

Dr. Morgan returned to the UK to meet with Dr. John Keady at the University of Manchester. Dr, Keady is lead of the interdisciplinary Dementia and Ageing Research Team (DART) and the Chief Investigator of the ESRC/NIHR Neighbourhoods and Dementia Study which aims to broaden the understanding of what it is like to live with dementia in an everyday context. Dr. Keady came to Saskatoon in 2010 to meet the RaDAR team and to participate as the guest keynote at the 3^rd Rural Dementia Summit meeting.

While in Manchester Dr. Morgan also met with RaDAR co-investigator, Dr. Anthea Innes who is Director of the Salford Institute for Dementia at Salford University (Manchester, England) and also has an appointment at University of Stirling (Stirling, Scotland). Dr. Anthea Innes has travelled to Canada a number of times in her work with RaDAR team members and to present as the keynote speaker at the 2009 and 2014 Rural Dementia Summits. While in Manchester, Dr. Morgan gave a presentation about the RaDAR team at Salford University. Drs. Morgan and Innes then travelled by train to Stirling, Scotland, where Dr. Morgan gave a presentation at the University of Stirling.

The opportunity to meet international colleagues with an interest in dementia care, and to learn more about their work and some of the common challenges shared by those living with dementia in rural areas around the world contributes to the success of the RaDAR team and their research endeavors in Saskatchewan.