Journal of Mental Health and Addiction Nursing Editorial Board
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Lisa Adams, PhD, RN, MSc
Dr. Adams has 25 years of health care and nursing leadership experience, particularly in the field of mental health and addictions. She has a PhD in nursing from the University of Alberta where her research interests are in seniors, mental health, respectful workplaces and leadership/administration. She has numerous publications and has done a great deal of research in these areas. She is a Certified Health Executive of the Canadian College of Health Leaders, has CNA certification in psychiatric/mental health nursing, and completed an EXTRA Research Fellowship with the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation where she build a computer application tool to assess mental illness in seniors (aka CFHI). Dr. Adams does consulting work on the topic of workplace bullying provincially, nationally and internationally and is an award winning author in the US for her book "Workplace Mental Health for Nurse Managers" published by Springer Publishing in New York. Dr. Adams does a great deal of volunteer work for such organizations as the CMHA, the Seniors Resource Center and the Canadian Cancer Society. She is also a member of the Editorial Board for the Healthcare Management Forum for the past 5 years.
Elsabeth Jensen, PhD, RN, BA
Dr. Jensen is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing at York University and the new Director of the York-CAMH Collaborative. Her areas of research expertise include Nurse Practitioner education, mental health, child abuse, housing, discharge models, program evaluation, and knowledge translation. She is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in mental health and is a founding member and the Ontario Representative to the Board of Directors of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Association of Canada. Dr. Jensen has been engaged in research for many years involving over two dozen projects worth almost $1M. Her publication record is extensive, including scholarly papers, book chapters, and a full-length book that she co-authored and co-edited, Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Health Finding Truths — Creating Change.
Claire Henderson, MRCPsych, PhD
The broad aim of Dr. Henderson's research is to address the disempowerment of people with mental illness as a result of the illness and ensuing stigma and discrimination. The service interventions she has researched promote shared decision making between users and clinicians, encourage illness self-management, or reduce decisional conflict (the sense of having insufficient support or information to make a difficult decision). Outside mental health services, she has evaluated interventions to: reduce stigma and discrimination on the part of the general population and key target groups; and encourage help-seeking for secondary school children who self-harm.
Dr. Henderson is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Stephanie Knaak, PhD
sknaak@mentalhealthcommission.ca
Dr. Knaak is a Research Associate with Opening Minds at the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Dr Knaak specializes in research on mental illness stigma, including research on key ingredients and best practices associated with combatting stigma in health care environments and among youth. Since 2012, she has written and published widely on the topic of stigma reduction, including more than 12 academic articles on anti-stigma interventions across Canada.
Previous to her work with the MHCC, Dr. Knaak’s research concentrated on maternal mental health, including the adjustment to motherhood, experiences of postpartum depression, and exploring the connections between modern parenting culture and mental wellbeing. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Alberta. In her free time she blogs for Huffington Post Canada and thisgoldenlife.ca
Aaron Fernandez, MBBS, MSc, MMed
Dr. Fernandez is a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer in psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine Universiti Putra Malaysia, a public-funded university. He earned his medical degree in 2001 and went on to obtain degrees in Psychology (2008) and Psychiatry (2009) He has been a Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP) since 2011. Dr. Fernandez is a member of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (PRA) and has been appointed to serve as a Commissioner for the Certification Commission for Psychiatric Rehabilitation since 2016. He is of the opinion that the practice of psychiatry in Malaysia has overwhelmingly leaned towards reductionism and seeks to be an agent of change towards a more humanistic psychiatry with a recovery-oriented practice. He currently resides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with his wife and two children.
Marilou Gagnon, RN, PhD
Dr. Marilou Gagnon is Associate Professor in Nursing at University of Ottawa. She works with people living with HIV and people who use drugs. Her program of research questions structures that create inequities and injustices, critically examines the management of risk, bodies and behaviors, and analyzes issues related to access to care, quality of care, and ethics. She is co-founder and current President of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association, the founder of the Coalition of Nurses and Nursing Students for Supervised Injection Services, and creator of the Harm Reduction = Nursing Care Facebook campaign.
Sanaz Riahi, RN, MSN, PhD(c)
Dr. Sanaz Riahi is the Senior Director of Professional Practice and Clinical Information at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences. In her role she works collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, with the utilization of technology and health systems, to support, promote and advance quality interprofessional practice environment to optimize outcomes for patients, staff and the organization. Her recent accomplishment includes leading Ontario Shores in the achievement of HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence, HIMSS EMRAM Stage7 designation, placing Ontario Shores as the first hospital in Canada to receive these awards. Other key activities where she has provided corporate leadership includes recovery-oriented initiatives, implementation of a patient portal in mental health care, and implementation of clinical practice guidelines leveraging technology. She was an expert panel member supporting the development of RNAO’s Best Practice Guideline on “Adopting eHealth Solutions: Implementation Strategies”. She is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at University of Toronto and is currently completing her PhD studies at University of Central Lancashire in UK, exploring the notion of ‘last resort’ in the use of restraint by mental health nurses.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Florence Budden, BN.RN.CFMHN(C)
Ms. Budden is a mental health advocate. She began her career in nursing at the Waterford Hospital in St. John’s, NL after receiving her BN from MUN in 1988. She has been teaching nursing since 1998 at the Centre for Nursing Studies in St. John’s, NL in the Bachelor of Nursing and Practical Nursing Program. She has certification in psychiatric/mental health nursing from the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA). She has completed nine master’s courses at Athabasca University. She has a certification in Quality Improvement and Nursing Leadership. The CNA recognized Florence as the nurse to know in September 2012. She also received the Michael Smith Award from the Schizophrenia Society of Canada in 2008 for her work to improve the quality of life for individuals and families affected by schizophrenia and psychosis. She has held numerous leadership and advocacy roles in community organizations both provincially and nationally. Ms. Budden is the current President of Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nurses, past events chair 2013-2015 Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health(CAMIMH), and current Chair of CAMIMH Public Affairs Committee.
Gabriella Golea, RN, MN
Ms. Golea received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, a Certificate in Gerontology, from Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, and a Master’s of Nursing (administration focus) from the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.
She is currently the director, interprofessional practice at CAMH in Toronto, Ontario and previously served at CAMH as an administrative director and the deputy chief of nursing practice.
Matthieu Payette, RN, BScN
Mr. Payette is currently employed at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton West Fifth Campus on the Mental Health Nursing Resource Team as well as the Brantford Community Healthcare System on the Inpatient Mental Health Acute Psychiatry unit. He graduated from McMaster University-Conestoga College Collaborative program in 2016. Mr. Payette previously worked as a Graphic Designer prior to his education as a nurse, where he has used this skill set to work in collaboration with various organizations, such as the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association and most recently in a project at Conestoga College to promote mental health literacy and help reduce stigma. Mr. Payette has an interest in challenging how traditional unit practices and therapeutics affect the outcomes of vulnerable populations, as well as what interventions and research directly influence patient recidivism and care.
Chris Watkins, RPN, BScPN, MN
Mr. Watkins is extremely experienced in the field of Mental Health and Addictions and possesses over 29 years clinical experience both in Australia, but more recently Canada, in a variety of settings. He also has over 8 years of progressive program leadership within the Edmonton Zone in a wide variety of settings and leadership roles including Mental Health and Addictions. Additionally, Mr. Watkins also has experience in Mental Health and Addictions program development within the Government, private and not for profit health sector pertaining to adults, seniors as well as child, youth and adolescents.
Mr. Watkins is currently an Assistant Professor, teaching within the Psychiatric Nursing Program, City Centre Campus, Edmonton, Alberta. He teaches second and third year Mental Health, as well as clinical and preceptorship placements within the psychiatric nursing diploma program (just recently moving to a degree program). He also teaches two online courses within the degree program, including Mental Health and the Law and Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Mr. Watkins maintains current practice by working as a registered psychiatric nurse within the Edmonton Zone Forensic Psychiatry program. He recently had the experience of being the Team Lead for the Provincial Community Wellness team in supporting the community of Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo after the devastating fires earlier this year.
Mr. Watkins has an undergraduate degree in Psychiatric Nursing (Honour Role/Deans list), and has his post graduate degree, Master in Nursing (Majoring in Mental Health) through Monash University in Australia with a focus on Leadership. He was recently the president of the College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Alberta (CRPNA) and the Registered Psychiatric Nurse Regulators of Canada (RPNRC), and currently serves as a provincial board member. Chris is on the board of directors for the Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nursing (CFMHN) representing Alberta, and these roles have offered him an even increased global understanding of the issues related to mental health and substance use.
Julia Fineczko, RN, BScN, MScCH
Julia Fineczko is a registered nurse with over 10 years of experience in the community and hospital sector, in direct care, research, management and professional practice roles. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from Ryerson University in 2007 followed by a Masters of Science in Community Health Degree in 2011 from the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health specializing in Addictions and Mental Health. Her master’s work focused on access to needle exchange programs in the community, safe injection practices in correctional institutions, and family/caregiver support for those providing care to individuals with severe mental illness.
After a career at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health where she worked in and led programs serving multiple complex populations Julia is now the Manager of Nursing Practice at Fairview Lodge Long Term Care Home serving residents with multiple complexities including physical, mental health, and behavioural challenges.
Suzette Poole, RN-MH, PGDip. Forensic Psych., MNursing
Suzette Poole is a clinical lead at Te Pou o te Whakaaro Nui- a national centre of evidence based workforce development for the mental health, addiction and disability sectors in New Zealand. She leads a number of initiatives for the organisation and provides a mental health and nursing perspective to others. Her key projects are supervision guidelines for mental health and addiction nursing, co-existing problems and trauma informed care. She has led a workforce development project on supporting women in secure mental health services.
Ms. Poole is a registered nurse-mental health and has recently been elected as the President of Te Ao Māramatanga, New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses. Her career spans over 30 years. She specialised in forensic mental health and past leadership roles include: clinical nurse leader-educator, clinical nurse director (Waikato District Health Board), nurse advisor-health (New Zealand Nursing Council), practice board chair and Fellow of Te Ao Māramatanga, NZCMHNurses. Suzette is an honorary lecturer at The University of Auckland.
Ms. Poole co-led the development of Changing Times, Changing Places: From Tokanui Hospital to Mental Health Services in the Waikato, 1910-2012. Her Master of Nursing thesis was about New Zealand Mental Health Nurses’ Perceptions of Structural and Psychological Empowerment. Other research has included contributing to a study about violence towards nurses in their first year of practice (Mc Kenna et., al, 2003).