The National Dementia Care Conference

She is the independent Chair of the National Safeguarding Committee for Vulnerable Adults, Chair of the Third AGE’s National Advisory Council, SAGE, Support and Advocacy Service for Older People and a member of the Board of Third Age CLG, Chair of the Law Society’s Mental Health and Capacity Task Force.  She is a member of the Council of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and a member of the National Assisted Decision-Making Steering Group of the HSE. 

In 2010 Lhara graduated with an honours degree in Social Care from NUI Galway. Lhara completed an MA in Social Work also in NUI Galway, graduating in 2012. Lhara then began teaching part-time within the Discipline of Health Promotion, eventually leaving her HSE post in 2013. Lhara currently works as a University Teacher on the BA Social Care Programme in NUI Galway teaching adult learners and existing practitioners. Lhara has recently commenced a PhD entitled:  “Older People and Care in the Home in Ireland: How Much Do We Care? “ within the Discipline of Health Promotion, in NUI Galway.

Helen spent many years working in the tourism and disability sectors and has also devoted tireless years to community activism, working at board level in several organisations. In July 2012, Helen was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. She was the first Chair of the Irish Dementia Working Group, which is resourced by The Alzheimer Society of Ireland and is currently Chair of the European Dementia Working Group.  In 2015 Helen was asked to be the representative voice of people with dementia on the Monitoring Group for Ireland’s first National Dementia Strategy.  Helen has always been a passionate advocate for human rights and is now fighting for the rights of all people living with dementia including herself.  Helen is participating in international research in the area of dementia.

Prior to this she was a nurse tutor in centres for nurse education in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and USA.

She is a Registered General Nurse and Registered Nurse Tutor, completing her MA Ed at Oxford Brookes University in 1999, and her PhD at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin in 2012.

Her educational experience and research interests include dementia care, palliative care and end-of-life care, ethical decision-making and reflective practice.

She is a registered general nurse who has worked with older people as a nurse and nurse manager. Deirdre obtained a BSc (Cur) general nursing in 2006, an MSc Gerontological nursing in 2011 and European Certificate in Palliative Dementia Care in 2014. She is a member of the All Ireland Gerontological Nurses Association and The Irish Association of Palliative Care. Deirdre has served on the board of Care Alliance Ireland since 2014 and chairs the research sub-committee of that board. Her work with the Irish Hospice Foundation centres around the Palliative Care for All and Primary Palliative Care Programmes as well as supporting other projects linked to the healthcare team.

He is a clinical senior lecturer in the department of medical gerontology Trinity College Dublin, and a principle investigator in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. His primary research interest is Alzheimer’s disease and other neurocognitive disorders of ageing. He is a chief and principle investigator in several global clinical research trials of therapeutic interventions in prodromal and established Alzheimer’s disease. He was co-principle investigator on the first Irish National Audit of Dementia (INAD) care in acute hospitals. He is a member of the clinical and research advisory panel for the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland. He is the national specialty director for the specialty of general internal and acute medicine for the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. He is honorary secretary of the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine.

Understand Together is a national public support, awareness and information campaign led by the HSE, working with The Alzheimer Society of Ireland and Genio and supported by more than 30 partners from across Irish society. It is aimed at inspiring people from all sections of society to stand together with the 500,000 Irish people whose families have been affected by dementia. Understand Together is one of six key elements of the National Dementia Strategy and has been made possible through a funding partnership between the State and The Atlantic Philanthropies.  The campaign is jointly overseen by the HSE’s Health and Wellbeing Division, and the HSE’s National Dementia Office. Ms Donnelly previously managed communications at the Institute of Public Health in Ireland and the Centre for Ageing Research in Ireland. Previous communications experience also includes work with Bord Bia, Concern Worldwide and Carr Communications. She has a special interest in ageing issues, public health and dementia. www.understandtogether.ie

She is Vice-Chair of The Alzheimer Society of Ireland’s Dementia Carers Campaign Network and is a passionate advocate who is actively involved in politics. She recently finished work to become a full-time carer for her mother Nora who is 63 years old and is in stage six of dementia in the form of Posterior Cortical Atrophy. Laura is 32 years old and is married with young children.

He served on the management teams of four health boards and was Chief Executive of the South Eastern Health Board and Eastern Health Board. In addition he served as the first National Director of the National Hospitals office and Deputy CEO of the HSE.

Chief Executive of the Irish Payment Services Organisation until the introduction of European Payments Formats, he has assisted Government, on a pro bono basis, in reviews of public expenditure, local government, childcare, health insurance and the Department of Justice. He has served as Chairman and a member of a number of voluntary organisations.

He holds a B.A. and an L.L.B. from N.U.I. Galway and an M.B.A. from Strathclyde Business School.

She also holds an MA degree in the medico-ethical aspects of the diagnosis of brain death from University College Dublin.

She’s a member of the Working Group on the Review of the Coroner Service with the Irish Government’s Department of Justice. She’s also a member of the Irish College of General Practitioners Research Ethics Committee and the Human Research Ethics Committee in UCD, a lay advisor to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and a Member of the Radiographers Registration Board. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Forensic & Legal Medicine in UCD where she lectures on aspects of forensic & legal medicine, medical ethics and professionalism to undergraduate medical, radiography and physiotherapy students. She also lectures on similar topics to the graduate programmes in Healthcare Risk Management & Quality and in Forensic Medicine. She has published both nationally and internationally on medical law and ethics, suicide, coronial data, and is co-author of Simpson’s Forensic Medicine (Irish version).

She is responsible for dementia awareness and training in the local community. Miriam is also a practising Psychotherapist and Counsellor in private practice accredited with The Irish Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists.