After completing an undergraduate education in physical education at Sydney University, Australia, Dr. Faulkner went backpacking and spent 10 years in England studying and working in mental health services and then higher education.
After completing a PhD in exercise psychology in 2001 at Loughborough University, U.K., Dr. Faulkner worked for three years as director of the Exercise and Sport Psychology Unit at the University of Exeter in England. Eager to see more of the Commonwealth, Dr. Faulkner moved to Canada in August 2003.
Dr. Faulkner is also:
a mentor with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategic Training Program in Tobacco Research;
an investigator with the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit;
a research affiliate of the Alberta Centre for Active Living;
founding co-editor of the new Elsevier journal Mental Health and Physical Activity; and
co-editor of the book Exercise, Health and Mental Health published by Routledge in 2005.
Broadly, his research has focused on two interrelated themes:
the effectiveness of physical activity promotion interventions and
physical activity and psychological well-being.
His current research concerns:
the physical health needs of mental health service users in relation to antipsychotic medication, weight gain, diabetes and medication compliance;
mediated health messages; and
the role of physical activity in harm reduction and smoking cessation.
This research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, CIHR, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative.
Panel Facilitator: Tanya Berry, PhD
In addition to being a research associate at the Alberta Centre for Active Living, Dr. Tanya Berry is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta. She is also an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research population health scholar.
Dr. Berry has a keen interest in how physical activity is promoted and how people interpret messages about physical activity, whether the messages come from health promoters or from the larger commercial world. For her own physical activity, she likes to walk to work with her husband, run with friends, play soccer and do yoga.
Panellist: Beth Evans, MSc
Beth Evans is the director of mental health promotion for Alberta Health Services — Mental Health and Addiction. Her master’s degree is in applied psychology.
Some of the provincial mental health promotion initiatives Beth has led include:
a public education campaign to address stigma related to mental illness,
school-based initiatives for adolescents on stress and connection to school,
resources for parents and caregivers of infants and preschool children, and
workplace initiatives including the Bottom Line Conference in Calgary in 2000 and the Minding the Workplace Conference in 2000.
Beth recently co-chaired a pan-Canadian mental health promotion initiative that included a think tank and recommendations for a national approach to mental health promotion.
Panellist: Brenda Fischbrook-Benoit, BSc OT (C)
Brenda Fischbrook-Benoit is an occupational therapist working in geriatric psychiatry at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
She has over 20 years’ experience working in mental health with both adults and geriatrics. She works in a multidisciplinary team that provides a variety of treatments to address the physical, psychological and cognitive rehabilitation needs of her clients. She has taken a leadership role in geriatric psychiatry promoting the development of occupational therapy services to enhance programs to address the mental health needs of clients.
Panellist: Rachel Keaschuk, PsyD, RPsych
Dr. Rachel Keaschuk is a psychologist for the Pediatric Centre for Weight and Health at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. In this capacity she works with children and families with respect to motivation, lifestyle change and mental health. In addition, she is active in program development and has a specific interest in developing programs for parents to help them effectively support overweight children and youth.
Dr. Keaschuk completed her master’s and doctorate in clinical psychology at Baylor University. Her residency was completed in child psychology at the State University of New York, Upstate Medical Centre. Dr. Keaschuk’s graduate work focused on gender differences in the development of eating disorders and gender perspectives of body image. Her current research focuses on the psychological correlates of pediatric obesity and predictors of readiness to change in the pediatric population.
Panellist: Emma Rickard, BSW, Dip MH, RSW
Emma Rickard has over 10 years’ social work experience in New Zealand, England and Canada.
She has worked in a broad range of social work settings including child protection, rehabilitation, private practice and community-based mental health. She has worked at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand as a tutor of social work skills and as a fieldwork teacher of social work students.
She has many years’ experience as a senior social worker and team leader in a community-based mental health service offering comprehensive assessment and short-term counselling to children, adolescents, adults and families. In addition, she has experience in offering self-help workshops to small groups.
Emma also works with employers and is certified to provide critical incident and stress debriefing to individuals and teams after serious injury or death in the workplace. She joined Organizational Health Inc. in 2005, part-time, as a counsellor.
