Denise Bedard
With over 42 years of experience in the Long-term Care sector, Denise has always strived to enhance the quality of life for seniors. Denise has a deep understanding of geriatric care dynamics, LTC policies, and Regulations and has been involved in various initiatives and projects to improve the quality of care and services for residents and their families. She is passionate about meeting residents’ unique needs and challenges and providing them with tailored and compassionate care that respects their dignity, preferences, and autonomy. She strongly believes every senior deserves to live a fulfilling and meaningful life, regardless of physical or cognitive limitations. Denise is also committed to advancing her knowledge and skills in the field of aging and is doing her Ph.D. program at the University of Western Ontario, focusing on resident-centered care and biopsychosocial factors impacting quality of life and care for residents in Ontario. Her research interests include innovative models of care, digital technologies, and best practices in LTC. Denise is a visionary leader passionate about the culture change movement and transforming long-term care homes from traditionalized to more homelike environments.
Azar Varahrami Vigeh
Azar is a social scientist with a strong passion for advancing care delivery and its effect on the quality of life of vulnerable populations, specifically older adults. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from the University of Western Ontario, specializing in Health Promotion. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship focusing on strategies to enhance inclusivity and equal opportunity for all and reduce systemic barriers like discrimination and bias for youth with disabilities. Throughout the years, she developed a deep interest in understanding social determinants of health (non-medical factors) and their significant impact on health outcomes at individual and societal levels. Social determinants of health are complex, integrated, multi-dimensional, and defined as the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, and age. Azar believes screening for social determinants of health can substantively improve health-related outcomes of vulnerable populations. Her current research projects focus on long-term care homes and how the culture change movement can affect the quality of life of the aging population in Ontario.
Research, Rehabilitation, & Resources Inc. 