Abigail Wickson-Griffiths, RN, PhD

Contact Info

Research Areas

• Palliative care and end of life issues in long-term care
• Quality of life issues in long-term care
• Dementia care
• Advanced practice nursing

Education

• Bachelor's Degree, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, McMaster University
• Master's Thesis, Master of Nursing, Ryerson University
• Doctorate, PhD in Nursing, McMaster University

Research Projects

 

• Wickson-Griffiths, A., Compton, R., Ottley, K. (Co-PIs); Barlow, M., Cammer, A., Hunter, P.V., Mills, S. Moorman, M., Tupper, S. (Co-Is); Baxter-Jones, A., Brown, L., Flowers, M. & Sommer, L. (Supporters). Building Sustainable Provincial Connections to Maximize Older Adult Quality of Life through Family Integration into Care. Funded by Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, Research Connections Grant. 2021-2022 ($7,500).·        Kaasalainen, S., McCloskey, R., Wickson-Griffiths, A., Neil-Sztramko, S., Baxter, S. (PIs); Dobbins, M., Boamah, S., Durepos, P., Hunter, PV., Markle-Reid, M., McCleary, L., Sussman, T., Siu, H., Arya, A., Holroyd-Leduc, J., Thompson, G., Venturato, L (Co-Is). Implementing and Scaling Up the Palliative Care Toolkit in Long-Term Care During COVID. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Implementation Science Teams: Teams Strengthening Pandemic Preparedness in Long-Term Care Funding Opportunity. 2020-2021 ($149,998).
• Kaasalainen, S. (Principal Applicant); Hunter, P.V., McCleary, L., Sussman, T., Thompson, G., Venturato, L., & Wickson-Griffiths, A., (PIs); Bourgeois-Guerin, V., Fisher, K., Hadjistavropolous, T., MacDonald, M., Martin-Misener, R., McClement, S., Parker, D., Penner, J., Ploeg, J., Sinclair, S., & You, J. (Co-Is). Implementing, Evaluating, and Scaling Up of the Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care (SPA-LTC) Program. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Project Grant. 2019-2024 ($948,600).
• Hunter, P.V. (Principal Investigator), Cammer, A., Stewart, B., Goodridge, D., Compton, R. & Wickson-Griffiths, A. (Co-Applicants). Establishing a Patient-Oriented Research Network to Support Knowledge Mobilization During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Funded by Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, Research Connections: Covid-19 Rapid Response Grant. 2020-2021 ($10,000).
• Kaasalainen, S. (Principal Applicant); Hunter, P.V., McCleary, L., Sussman, T., Thompson, G., Venturato, L., & Wickson-Griffiths, A., (Principal Investigators); Bourgeois-Guerin, V., Fisher, K., Hadjistavropolous, T., MacDonald, M., Martin-Misener, R., McClement, S., Parker, D., Penner, J., Ploeg, J., Sinclair, S., & You, J. (Co-Investigators). Implementing, Evaluating, and Scaling Up of the Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care (SPA-LTC) Program. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Project Grant. 2019-2024 ($948,600).
• Kaasalainen, S., & Hunter, P. (Co-Principal Investigators); Baxter, S., Coker, E., Dal Bello-Haas, D., Dolovich, L., Hadjistavropoulos, T., McAiney, C., Ploeg, J., Thabane, L., Sussman, T., Thompson, G., Wickson-Griffiths, A. (Co-Investigators). Operating Grant- Social Inclusion of Individuals with Dementia and Carers: Improving quality of living and dying for people with advanced dementia and their caregivers. Funded by, Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 2017-2021 ($498,350)

Selected Publications and Presentations

• Thompson, G. & Wickson-Griffiths, A.(2020). A palliative approach to care: From diagnosis to end of life. In L. G. Garcia, L. McCleary, & N. Drummond (Eds.), Strategies and approaches for managing dementia transitions: Riding the waves (pp. 213-234). Elsevier.
• Kaasalainen, S., Sussman, T., McCleary, L., Thompson, G., Hunter, P.V., Wickson-Griffiths, A.,Cook, R., Dal-Bello Haas, V., Hill, C., Venturato, L., Papaioannou, A., You, J., & Parker, D. (2019). A stakeholder analysis of the strengthening a palliative approach in long term care model. Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, 32(3), 27-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.12927/cjnl.2019.25974
• Wickson-Griffiths, A.,Kaasalainen, K., & Pokoradi, L. (2018). Nursing roles in managing pain in older adults. In G. Pickering, S. Zwakhalen, & S. Kaasalainen (Eds.), Pain management in older adults: A nursing perspective (pp. 93-108). Springer.
• McCleary, L., Thompson, G., Venturato, L., Wickson-Griffiths, A.,Hunter, P.V., Sussman, T., & Kaasalainen, S. (2018). Meaningful connections in dementia end of life care in long term care homes. BMC Psychiatry, 18, 307. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-018-1882-9
• Wickson-Griffiths, A.,& Holtslander, L. (2017, October). Exploring the End-of-Life Care and Bereavement Needs of Family Members in Long-Term Care Homes. Presented at the 46th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting: Canadian Association on Gerontology, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
• Durepos, P., Wickson-Griffiths, A.,Hazzan, A.B., Kaasalainen, S., Vastis, V., Battistella, L., Papaioannou, A. (2017). Assessing the palliative care content in dementia care guidelines: A systematic review. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 53(4): 804-813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.painsymman.2016.10.368
• Wickson-Griffiths, A., Kaasalainen S., Akhtar-Danesh, N. (2016, October). Utility of the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) in long-term care (LTC) homes. Presented at the 45th Annual Scientific and Education Meeting: Canadian Association on Gerontology, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• Wickson-Griffiths, A.,Kaasalainen, S., & Herr, K. (2016). Interdisciplinary approaches to managing pain in older adults. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, 32(4), 693-704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j/cger.2016.06.013
• Wickson-Griffiths, A.,Kaasalainen, S., Brazil, K., McAiney, C., Crawshaw, D., Turner, M., & Kelley, M.L. (2015). Comfort Care Rounds: A staff capacity-building initiative in long-term care homes. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 41(1), 42-48. https://doi.org/10.3928/00989134-20140611-01
• Wickson-Griffiths, A.,Kaasalainen, S., Ploeg, J., & McAiney, C. (2014). A Review of advance care planning programs in long-term care homes: are they dementia friendly? Journal of Nursing Research and Practice, Volume 2014, Article ID 875897, 11 pages. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/875897

Teaching Focus 2020-2021

• CNUR 102 Foundations of Care I: A Developing Professional
• CNUR 402 Health Promotion with Older Adult, Rural and Remote Populations
• MNUR 818 Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership in Health Promotion