People
COPA staff
Research Associates
QMU staff with an interest in working with older people
- Gillian Baer, Senior Lecturer - Physiotherapy
- Martina Balaam, Lecturer - Nursing
- Jane Burns, Research student - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Shona Cameron, Lecturer - Nursing
- Professor Alan Gilloran, Vice Principal (Research Development)
- Michele Hipwell, Lecturer - Psychology
- Heather Hunter, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Lindesay Irvine, Lecturer - Nursing
- Vassiliki Karkou, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Alisdair Landrock, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Fiona MacLean, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Ian McMillan, Acting Head of Subject - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Kathy Munro, Head of Nursing
- Maggie Nicol, Research Professor - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Fiona O'May, Research Fellow - Psychology
- Linda Renton, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
- Helen Riddell, Lecturer - Nursing
- Evelyn Weir, Lecturer - Podiatry
- Joyce Willock, Senior Lecturer - Health Psychology
Janice Burr, Centre Officer
Contact jburr@qmu.ac.uk
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Ambi Wildman, Project Manager, National Forum on Ageing Futures Group
Contact awildman@qmu.ac.uk
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Queen Margaret University (QMU) is well placed to host The Centre for the Older Person’s Agenda because:
- it has two health care schools providing courses, research and consultancy in the fields of Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Art Therapy, Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Sciences, Podiatry, Radiography, Psychology, Sociology, Social Policy and Health Promotion and International Health Studies
- multidisciplinarity is highly valued
- recent and current research focuses on older people and their carers
- staff are committed to the use of research to change and develop practice
- it has a range of relevant educational programmes
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Yvonne Coull, ex Director of COPA
Dip HE (Food and Nutrition); Post Qual for Industry & Commerce; Dip Marketing (CIM); MBA; FICSc; PGCert Prof Ed.
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- Yvonne's background is in developing a wide range of educational materials covering food and nutrition, particularly nutrition of older adults. Yvonne has extensive project management experience and responsibility for education programmes within COPA where she is developing Senior Learning Programmes as well as rolling out Education for Participation and developing a Nutrition in Later Life education resource for home care workers.
- Yvonne attends a number of groups and forums on behalf of COPA; Forum for Financial Awareness and Older People; National Volunteering Forum; Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice; Sharing the Learning.
Dr Heather Wilkinson, Director, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR), University of Edinburgh
Dr Heather WIlkinson's research interests currently centre on issues of inclusion and quality of life for people with dementia and for people with learning disabilities and dementia. Theoretically she is interested in models of inclusion and social justice for significantly marginalised groups and have also been involved in Scottish Adults with Incapacity Legislation and reforms. She is actively involved in developing methods for including people with dementia in research and policy.
More recently her part time secondment to the Centre for the Older Person's Agenda, Queen Margaret University, has allowed her to focus on developing research with a specific user involvement agenda.
Through a range of research grants and involvement with different policy and practice groups Heather is active in the fields of disability, gerontology, social policy and nursing at national and international levels.
Contact h.wilkinson@ed.ac.uk
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Dr Ailsa Cook
Dr Ailsa Cook is Visiting Researcher at the School of Health in Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and an Independent Research Consultant. Her main research interests are around the experiences of adults using health and social care services, ageing, dementia, disability, user involvement and outcomes. She is currently leading a programme of Government funded action research looking at improving outcomes for service users and carers in community care.
Contact ailsakrcook@googlemail.com
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Gillian Baer, Senior Lecturer - Physiotherapy
MSc, MCSP
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- stroke rehabilitation
- functional outcome measures for older people with neurological problems
- investigation into home-based exercises for people with late-stage stroke
Contact gbaer@qmu.ac.uk
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Martina Balaam, Lecturer - Nursing
MSc BA(Hons) RGN
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- self esteem and the older person
- the concept of 'cumulative trivia' and the older person and the impact of this on independence
Contact mbalaam@qmu.ac.uk
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Jane Burns, Research student - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
Contact jburns@qmu.ac.uk
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Shona Cameron, Lecturer - Nursing
SRN, SCM, HV, BA, PhD
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- general practice nursing
- health screening
- communication
Contact scameron@qmu.ac.uk
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Professor Alan Gilloran, Vice Principal (Research Development)
MA, PhD
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- work satisfaction of staff caring for people with dementia
- quality of care for people with dementia
- member of the Scottish Executive Care Development Group (2001) whose remit was to bring forward proposals to ensure that older people in Scotland have access to high quality and responsive long term care in the appropriate setting and on a fair and equitable basis, including proposals for the implementation of free personal care
Contact agilloran@qmu.ac.uk
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Michele Hipwell
MA (Hons) Psychology, DPM
Lecturer in Psychology
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- Member of the Psychologists Special Interest Group working with older people (PSIGE)
- research into mental health problems in older people in General Practice
Contact mhipwell@qmu.ac.uk
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Heather Hunter, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
MSc(Ed), DipCOT, SROT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- life transitions in old age and the meaning inherent in occupational behaviour
- the meaning of home for older people living in their own homes / supported accommodation
Contact hhunter@qmu.ac.uk
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Lindesay Irvine, Lecturer - Nursing
BA MSc RGN RNT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- assessment tools and their use with older people
- carers role and older people
- communication between older people and nurses in acute care settings
- falls and the older person
- healthy ageing and its promotion
Research involvement
Contact Lindesay MC Irvine,
Course Leader/Lecturer, Faculty of Social Science and Health Care,
Department of Health and Nursing,
Queen Margaret University,
Edinburgh, Musselburgh,
EH216UU
lirvine@qmu.ac.uk Tel: 0131 474 0000
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Vassiliki Karkou, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
Contact vkarkou@qmu.ac.uk
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Alisdair Landrock, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
Contact alandrock@qmu.ac.uk
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Fiona MacLean, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
BSc OT, MPhil., SROT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- function in older people
- vision and function in older people
- pain and older people
Contact fmaclean@qmu.ac.uk
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Ian McMillan, Acting Head of Subject - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
M.Ed, Cert. Ed, DipCOT, SROT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- evaluation of primary care occupational therapists to maintain quality of life for older people living in the community (Primary Care Occupational Therapy (PCOT))
Contact imcmillan@qmu.ac.uk
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Kathy Munro, Head of Nursing
EdD BA MEd RGN SCM DN PWT RNT DNT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- care of the older person in their own home provided by District Nurses
- care of the older person in their own home by informal and formal carers
- ongoing professional development and construction of education programmes for community health nurses and other health care professionals who are responsible for providing care for older people within the community
- ongoing development of courses for carers of older people
- development of educational and learning opportunities and courses for older people
Contact kmunro@qmu.ac.uk
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Maggie Nicol, Research Professor - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
PhD MPhil DipCOT CertFE SROT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- OT intervention for older people with mental health problems living in the community
- level and nature of occupation in relation to health in well elderly peolpe living in the community
Contact mnicol@qmu.ac.uk
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Fiona O'May, Research Fellow - Psychology
MSc, BSc
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
Contact Faculty of Health & Social Sciences,
Queen Margaret University,
Edinburgh, Musselburgh, EH21 6UU fomay@qmu.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0) 131 474 0000: +44 (0) 131 474 0001
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Linda Renton, Lecturer - Occupational Therapy & Art Therapy
Bsc (Hons), Dip COT, SROT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- groupwork and family work
- training care staff and voluntary staff about groupwork with people with dementia
- evaluation of group activities
Contact lrenton@qmu.ac.uk
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Helen Riddell, Lecturer - Nursing
MSc Nurse Education, BA(Hons) History, RGN/RNT
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- quality of nurses communication with elderly people
- use of controlling language and implications for equality of relationships with eldery people
Contact hriddell@qmu.ac.uk
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Evelyn Weir, Lecturer - Podiatry
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- Older adults' perceptions of portrayal in media - television, advertising, documentation
- Older adults and driving, in particular, the impact of driving cessation
- Pain assessment in older adults
- End of life issues - attitudes of older adults to living wills and assisted suicide
- Ageism - attitudes of health care workers and health care students towards older adults
- Gait, foot and footwear problems in older adults
- The impact of Better Government for Older People programme
- Politics and policy
Contact eweir@qmu.ac.uk
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Joyce Willock, Senior Lecturer - Health Psychology
PhD, MA, CPsychol
Relevant Interests and Activities Related to Older People
- member of Scottish Forum for Research into Older People
- attitudes and coping strategies for the older person
- quality of life and health in the older person
Contact jwillock@qmu.ac.uk
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© Copyright The Centre for the Older Person's Agenda, 2007
