Trinity College Dublin

Staff Details

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Personal Information
	Name	Cahill, Suzanne
	Main Department	School of Social Work & Social Policy
	College Title	Research Senior Lecturer/Director DSIDC
	E-mail	suzanne.cahill@tcd.ie
	College Tel
	Web	http://people.tcd.ie/cahillsu
	Fax	35318963240

Representations

Details	Date
Chair of National Dementia Advisory Committee	2010-2011
Steering Committee Member Trinity Consortium in Ageing	2008-2010
Working Group Member on Restraint in Designated Centres for Older People (Department of Health and Children)	2010 on
Working Group Member (HIQA) on the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People	2007-2008
Chairperson and Member of Working Group (HSE) on Residential Services for the Person with Dementia	2006-2007
More Representations>>>

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details	Date From	Date To
Interdem Member	2005
The Gerontological Society of America

Languages

Language	Skill Reading	Skill Writing	Skill Speaking
French	Fluent	Medium	Basic
Swedish	Basic	Basic	Basic

Description of Research Interests

My research interests are in the area of (i) Social Policy and Dementia, (ii) GPs, Diagnosis, Disclosure and Alzheimer's disease, (iii) End of Life and Dementia Care Standards (iv) Quality of Life and (v) Family Caregiving. I have published articles and book chapters on these topics nationally and internationally. The LiD programme of Research of which I am Director, is a coherent package of post-graduate psycho-social research in dementia. The programme which supports 5 full time PhD students is underpinned by three main themes namely (i)the therapeutic effects of group living for people with dementia, (ii)the subjective experiences of people diagnosed with dementia and (iii)training and educational needs of health service professionals. The programme aims to tackle the marginalization of people with dementia and overcome some widespread misconceptions held in society about Alzheimer's Disease and the related dementias. Ultimately the programme aims to enhance practice and service provision and to improve quality of life for all those diagnosed with dementia and their family caregivers. Inherent in the philosophy underpinning the programme is the belief that psycho-social interventions in dementia care make a real difference and can improve quality of life in people diagnosed and reduce caregiver burden. The programme also seeks to impact on policy development and contribute to the design of best practice models


Research Projects

Project title	Creating an Evidence Base to Develop a National Dementia Strategy for Ireland
Summary	The objective of this project is to provide the research evidence base to inform the Department of Health and Children in its development of a National Dementia Strategy. The project is being undertaken in collaboration with Professor Eamon O'Shea, from the National University of Ireland, Galway. The project involves identifying, reviewing, interpreting and synthesizing all relevant research data pertinent to developing an Irish Dementia Strategy.
Funding Agency	The Atlantic Philanthropies
Programme
Type of Project	Research Review
Date from	October 10
Date to	December 11
Person Months

Project title	The Development of an End of Life Care Standard for People with End Stage Dementia
Summary	Although a myriad of disparate standards have been developed for older people in long stay care (i) nursing home, (ii) residential, (iii) death and dying, (iv) palliative care, (v) end of life, and (vi) bereavement, no specific standard has to date been developed for the provision of End of Life care to people with dementia. The aim of this study is to contribute to improving quality of life for people with end stage dementia living in residential care settings across Ireland. This will be done by investigating the experiences of elderly spouses whose relatives have recently died with dementia in long stay care and using the data collected to develop an all Ireland standard for quality care in end stage dementia in nursing homes.
Funding Agency	CARDI
Programme
Type of Project	Exploratory Qualitative Research
Date from	June 2009
Date to	Sept 2010
Person Months

Project title	Post-Graduate research in dementia care
Summary	The purpose of this grant is to support a programme of research on dementia designed to contribute to the development of timely responsive and accessible interventions for people diagnosed with dementia and their family caregivers. The research programme also seeks to impact on policy development and contribute to the design of best practice models for all those affected by dementia.
Funding Agency	The Atlantic Philanthropies
Programme
Type of Project
Date from	2006
Date to	2011
Person Months

Project title	ENABLE: European research on technology and dementia
Summary	Enable was a European follow up study on technology and dementia carried out in five countries, Norway, Ireland, the UK, Finland and Lithuania. It was funded by the European Commission under the programme for Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources. The overall aim of ENABLE was to investigate whether it was possible to facilitate more independent living for people with mild to moderate dementia and promote their quality of life by installing in their homes assistive technologies and subsequently by evaluating these interventions over a twelve month period.
Funding Agency	EU Award
Programme	Programme for Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources
Type of Project
Date from	March 2000
Date to	June 2004
Person Months

More Research Projects>>>

Publications

Peer Reviewed

Cahill, S, Diaz-Ponce,A, Coen, R, & Walsh, C. , The Underdetection of Cognitive Impairment in Nursing Homes in the Dublin area: The Need for on-going Cognitive Assessment , Age and Ageing , 39, (1), 2010, p128 - 130 Url TARA - Full Text DOI
Cahill, S., Educational workshops and decision support software increase detection of dementia in the elderly in primary care settings, Evid Based Ment Health, 9, (4), 2006, p102 - 102


Non Peer Reviewed

The Historical Context of Rehabilitation and its Application to Dementia Car in, editor(s)M. Marshall , Perspectives on Rehabilitation and Dementia, London, Jessica Kingsley, 2005, pp30 - 38, [Cahill, S.]
Food and dementia: What are some of the Myths? in, editor(s)M. Marshall , Food, Glorious Food: Perspectives on Food and Dementia, London, Hawker Publication, 2003, pp31 - 33, [Cahill, S.]
Caregiver considerations in institutionalising dementia patients in, editor(s)D. O’Neill , Carers Professionals and Alzheimer’s Disease, London, Libbey & Co., 1991, pp37 - 42, [Cahill, S., & Rosenman, L.]
More Publications>>>

Contact:helpdesk@tcd.ie
Last Updated:12-FEB-2012



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