Debra Morgan
Dr. Morgan is an Associate Professor and Chair, Rural Health Delivery, at the Canadian Centre for Health and
Safety in Agriculture (CCHSA), University of Saskatchewan . After obtaining her Registered Nursing diploma in 1974 she worked in various clinical areas before completing her BSN (1986), MN (1989), and PhD [Nursing (1996)] at the University of Saskatchewan. For three years she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Alzheimer Society of Canada (1997-1999) and the Founding Chairs Program, Institute of Agricultural Rural and Environmental Health (now the CCHSA) (1996-1997). Dr. Morgan held a five-year New Investigator Award from the Medical Research Council of Canada/Canadian Institutes of Health Research (1999-2004). Dr. Morgan’s interest in dementia care began with her Master’s research project, which examined the experiences of spouses of newly diagnosed dementia patients. Her doctoral research evaluated the effect of reduced social and spatial density on the behavior of nursing home residents with dementia who moved to a new special care unit (SCU). She is currently PI of a CHIR New Emerging Team grant “Strategies to Improve the Care of Persons with Dementia in Rural and Remote Areas”. Her current research interests include rural health care delivery (particularly as it affects individuals with dementia and their caregivers), work life issues affecting nursing aides in rural long-term care facilities, care of long-term care residents with dementia, physical and social environments of long-term care facilities and their impact on residents on staff, and knowledge translation and exchange in long-term care.