Faculty
Dr. Barbara Pesut
Barbara Pesut is a Professor in the School of Nursing at UBC’s Okanagan campus, and she currently holds the Principal Research Chair (Tier 1) in Palliative and End of Life Care. Her research interests include palliative care, rural and remote care, and medical assistance in dying. Barb’s nursing clinical background was in palliative and critical care.
Dr. Grace Warner
Dr. Grace Warner is a Professor for the School of Occupational Therapy, School of Nursing, and Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. Dr. Warner is involved in a range of research projects with health system administrators and providers to inform and facilitate implementation of innovations to improve the lives of older adults and their families.
Dr. Wendy Duggleby
Wendy Duggleby is a co-founder of Nav-CARE and is a Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. Her areas of research interest include gero-oncology, psychosocial oncology, family caregivers, palliative and end of life care. The goal of Wendy’s research is to enhance quality of life for older adults and their families.
Trainees
Madison Huggins
Madison’s PhD work focuses on adapting the Nav-CARE program to address the needs of caregivers of older adults with dementia who are living in the community. A modified e-Delphi method will be used to consult an expert panel in order to understand caregivers’ needs and the knowledge, skills and abilities volunteers require to meet these needs. Using this information, a training curriculum will be developed and provided to volunteer navigators. A pilot study will then be conducted to assess the efficacy of the adapted Nav-CARE program and inform the necessary changes.
Cara Basil
Palliative and end of life care for Indigenous persons requires a unique, community-based approach as Indigenous Peoples experience greater health disparities and health care barriers than the general population. In partnership with Indigenous community leaders, Cara’s masters’ research explores the feasibility of adapting the Nav-CARE program to suit their communities’ needs and how Nav-CARE may support current gaps in palliative care in community using community-based volunteer roles.
Staff
Gloria Puurveen
Gloria Puurveen is the Project Manager and Knowledge Translation Lead for the Nav-CARE project. She is a gerontologist and holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia. Her academic and professional passions center on a person-centered, compassionate community approach to care as it relates to older adults and people living with dementia and their family caregivers.
Nav-CARE 