Professor June Andrews, director of the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling, has won a prestigious international award to recognise her contribution to nursing.
She was presented with the Robert Tiffany International Award at The Nursing Standard’s Nurse Awards 2011 ceremony, hosted by television celebrity Angela Rippon in London.
Professor Andrews leads the team at the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), which conducts research into dementia service improvement in order to develop and deliver training for carers at all levels, and to enhance the experience of people with dementia, wherever they live. It is now recognised as the world-leader in its field thanks to her commitment to disseminate its innovative work, and share best practice with health systems and care providers around the globe.
For the past 20 years Professor Andrews has been promoting evidence-based service improvement, both at home and abroad, and was appointed director of the DSDC in 2005. She believes that dementia is a treatable condition and that international research on the design of effective services, combined with better nurse and carer training can make a huge difference.
Her work has helped to establish a ground-breaking dementia centre in the Netherlands and a partnership for international work on nutrition and night care with La Fondation Mederic Alzheimer in France. She has established influential research and teaching links in Canada and Australia, and the DSDC provided direct education for care home and hospital nursing staff in Malta. Her emphasis is on what is practical, and makes a difference. She is often featured on radio and television, giving down to earth advice on dementia care, and her book “Ten Helpful Hints for Carers” has sold over 13,000 copies since publication eighteen months ago.
Theresa Fyffe, RCN Scotland Director, said: “The contribution that June Andrews has made to nursing generally and to dementia services specifically is outstanding. She has made a real difference to the way that dementia services are delivered, both here in Scotland and the UK, and internationally. Not only that, she has done an unimaginable amount to enhance the reputation of nursing, and the contribution that the profession makes to health services is now much more widely recognised as a result."
June Andrews said; “I am proud to be a nurse, and to be recognised by the nursing profession in this way is very special. Everything I am able to do is a result of the world class team here at the University of Stirling Dementia centre. I have learned so much from people with dementia and their carers. They need as much help as we can possibly give them.”
Notes
The Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) is internationally recognised as a centre for excellence in coordinating dementia projects. The centre actively works to improve services for people with dementia, working with local authorities, the voluntary sector, emergency services and government organisations to provide unrivalled education and training in dementia. http://dementia.stir.ac.uk/
The Robert Tiffany International Award, sponsored by the Royal College of Nursing, is named in memory of Robert Tiffany, a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing who died in 1993. He was a founding member of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care and initiated the International Cancer Nursing Conference.