Sjónaukinn 2021: The annual conference of the School of Health Science

Dr. Agnes Higgins

Dr. Agnes is a professor in mental health within the School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin, where she has held key academic leadership positions, including: Head of School, Head of Mental Health Nursing, Director of Postgraduate Programmes and Director of Academic and Professional Affairs. She is a registered mental health nurse, general nurse and nurse tutor with many years’ clinical and education experience in the areas of mental health, palliative/hospice care and general nursing. She is a Fellow of Trinity College and Elected Fellow (Ad Eundem) of Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has led the development of a number of organisations that have given a critical voice to people who use the mental health services and is the current chairperson of the Board of Mental Health Reform, Ireland’s leading national patient coalition campaigning to transform mental health supports and services.

The central theme underpinning her research is on increasing understanding of service users’ and family members’ experience of mental health service provision and the development of psychosocial strategies that promote recovery and social inclusion. She has published widely in her field of expertise, including co-authoring Narratives of Recovery from Mental Illness: Role of peer support which was published by Routledge in 2017. She is a member of many national and international organisations and groups related to mental health, including, member of the Grounded Theory Institute, and Member of European Network of Training, Education and Research in Mental Health.

More information about Agnes

Dr. Yani Hamdani

Yani Hamdani, PhD, OT Reg. (Ont.) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto, and a Clinician-Scientist at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. She completed a PhD in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto in 2016. Dr. Hamdani’s research focuses on health experiences, services and policy for young people labeled with neurodevelopmental disabilities. She is an Occupational Therapist and has a particular interest in critical qualitative inquiry and policy analysis.

Keynote talk: Inclusive research practices and intellectual and developmental disability: Where are we now and what’s next in health research?

Summary: Canada has committed to increasing the inclusion of patients in health research, with the aim of improving health systems and outcomes in ways that are relevant to patients’ priorities for their health and daily lives. Despite this, underrepresented groups, such as adults labeled with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), continue to be largely excluded from patient-oriented health research activities. Differences in communication styles, cognitive and/or adaptive functioning and capacity are common barriers to their exclusion. Yet, the perspectives of people labeled with IDD in research and service evaluation is essential to the delivery of high-quality, person-centred healthcare and research that is reflective of their priorities and tailored to their ways of communicating, functioning and processing information. This talk will: 1) examine the notion of inclusion in IDD research from a critical social science perspective; 2) provide examples of strategies that aim to include people with IDD as co-researchers, advisors and research participants; and, 3) propose next steps in tackling the challenges and opportunities for incorporating inclusive practices in IDD research.