Biographies

Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka is a doctoral award recipient (2003-2004) of the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada. Her research on creativity, dementia and the therapeutic environment has led to several projects related to research and practice. She founded The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care ((www.cecd-society.org). Through this society, Dalia has organized as well as given a substantial number of workshops to the dementia care community. Dalia earned her PhD from the University of British Columbia, in the Institute of Health Promotion Research and the Interdisciplinary Studies Program. She graduated in 1976 from the Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design in Jerusalem, and received a Master's of Architecture degree in 1980 from the University of British Columbia. The Creative Expression Activities Program she conceived and developed for seniors with dementia won an award from the American Society on Aging and the MetLife Foundation. She continues to deliver presentations and workshops demonstrating the program in the US and Canada.

Dalia supports interdisciplinary collaboration with other professionals and actively seeks out scholars, nationally and internationally, who appreciate the use of visual and performing arts in health services provided to seniors with dementia. Her collaboration with Dr. Peter Graf is one example of the importance of cross-pollination that may yield a significant contribution to the quality of life for these seniors.

Hilary Lee has a background in occupational therapy, qualifying at Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy, Oxford, UK. She holds a certificate in Advanced Dementia Care Mapping and completed post graduate studies in health research methods. She completed a Masters degree in dementia research in 2007. With over 20 years of practical experience in dementia care, Hilary has been implementing the person-centred approach with special projects such as the early identification and prevention of depression in dementia, and a holistic approach to palliative care. Hilary is a sought after speaker both nationally and internationally. In 2006 she presented findings from her Master's research on the Spark of Life program at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists’ Congress, Sydney and in 2008 at the World Congress of Health Professionals, Perth, the CECD conference, Vancouver and International Eden Conference, Ohio.

Hilary has specialized in designing innovative and creative programs to enable people with dementia to express themselves in new ways. She worked with film makers in Perth on a documentary about an intergenerational tapestry project and presented this at the Creative Expression and Communication in Dementia Conference in Vancouver in May 2006. This connection with the Society for the Arts in Dementia in Vancouver inspired Hilary to introduce a new chapter of the Society to Australia.

Peter Graf is Director of the Memory & Cognition Laboratory at the University of British Columbia, Professor in the UBC Department of Psychology, and an investigator with the UBC Brain Research Centre.
His expertise on research methods and statistics, as well as his work on attention, perception, learning and memory, on how these abilities function in normal adulthood, and how they decline in old age, and when the brain is affected by trauma or disease such as Alzheimer’s, is the backbone of this project.

 

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