Meet The Team
Sherry Dahlke, Ph.D, RN, GNC(C)
ResearchGate Google Scholar
Dr. Dahlke is an associate professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of Alberta, Canada. She has received international recognition as a Gerontological Nurse Educator and a McCalla Teaching Award. She is a certified gerontological nurse. Her program of research aims to understand how to improve nursing practice with older people, and has been awarded funding from Canadian national funding, as well as other provincial funding bodies. Dr. Dahlke’s program of research focuses on three main themes: (1) how nurses in interprofessional teams can enhance the care of older people; (2) examining and improving nursing education related to older people; (3) understanding how to support positive perspectives about older people and aging; and (4) understanding older person knowledge needs related to accessing cannabis for health conditions. For the past three years, much of her work has focused on improving how nurses are educated to work with older people. As a result, she has developed and tested three e-learning activities (based on finding from her previous studies) to enhance undergraduate nurses’ education about older people. These e-learning activities have had preliminary testing and have been refined. Student nurses reported they were an interesting and helpful way to learn about older people. Dr. Dahlke is currently testing e-learning activities in universities in eastern and western Canada.
Kathleen Hunter, Ph.D., RN, NP, GNC(C), NCA
Dr. Hunter’s program of research is focused on clinical nursing care of older persons. She is a professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. She is also a Nurse Practitioner in the continence clinic at the Glenrose Hospital in Edmonton. Dr. Hunter has developed innovative tools to support families of people living with dementia, on admission to the hospital.
Sandra Davidson, Ph.D., RN
Dr. Sandra Davidson’s program of research is focused on learning innovations including the design and testing of game-based learning in nursing education, using e-platforms, and combining simulation and gamification. She is a professor and Dean of Nursing at the University of Calgary.
Mary Fox, Ph.D., RN
Mary Fox is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at York University, is a world-renowned expert in geriatric nursing. Her research focuses on older persons’ functional abilities during illness and responds to profound social and economic changes (e.g., population aging, the movement of care into communities) affecting healthcare in Canada and beyond. Professor Fox is currently leading two CIHR-funded studies on hospital-to-home transitional care in rural communities. The recipient of more than $4 million in grants and awards (e.g. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care, Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation), she has disseminated the findings of over 30 studies in more than 100 peer-reviewed published manuscripts and conference proceedings. Her work has garnered the attention of numerous premiere Knowledge Translation centres (e.g. Centers for Reviews and Dissemination in the United Kingdom), the media (e.g. Zoomer radio), and has been credited with providing the evidence needed to ‘Make the Case for ACE,’ a fundamental pillar of Ontario’s Seniors Strategy
Jeff Butler, Ph.D
Jeffrey Butler holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from York University and is passionate about improving gerontological care and health outcomes for older persons. His areas of expertise include the Sociology of Health and qualitative research methods. He is currently a Project Manager at the University of Alberta and York University, where he oversees numerous CIHR- and SSHRC-Funded projects focused on aging and nursing care for older Canadians. His work has been published in high-impact scholarly journals including Research in Nursing and Health, Journal of Nursing Management, Health Communication, Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, BMJ Open, and Journal of Nursing Scholarship.