Lab Director

 

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Dr. Marie Savundranayagam Savundranayagam

Dr. Savundranayagam’s research focuses on improving caregiving relationships through enhanced communication, identifying ways to enhance personhood for individuals with dementia, and uncovering the mechanisms by which caregiver interventions are effective. She received the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s ‘Age Plus’ Award for her work on communication problems and burden among family caregivers of persons with dementia. Her research has been funded by the Hartford Foundation, and the international grants program at the Alzheimer’s Association, and she is part of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging. She created Be EPIC, a person-centered communication training program for personal support workers of home care clients with dementia. Her research on Be EPIC is funded by the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation and the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation. Dr. Savundranayagam serves as associate editor for the Clinical Gerontologist and is on the editorial boards of Educational Gerontology, Journal of Family Communication, and Social Work in Health Care. She teaches courses on health and aging in the School of Health Studies at Western University.