Hom Shretha
Living and studying in Canada since 2014, I am an emerging Indigenous scholar (Master in Interdisciplinary Health Program, Honours B.A. in Specialized Gerontology) that belongs to the Indigenous clan of the sacred land of Nepa, South Asia. I am an active and engaged member of the Indigenous student community. I am connected to the communities and have participated in the sweat lodge, Powwow dancing, full-moon ceremony, drumming and singing, medicine wheel, medicine lodge, Seven Grandfather Teachings, and basic Anishinaabeg language. I volunteer at Laurentian University and have participated in the CIHR-funded dementia research activities in Ontario. My life long goal is to facilitate policy advocacy and research that recognizes the importance of Indigenous traditional healing and medicine. And to integrate culturally safe dementia care into the mainstream of health care system for indigenous ageing populations around the globe. My academic and spiritual path has largely been paved by my passion for Indigenoustraditional healing and medicine in dementia care and prevention and my never-ending thirst to understand what Indigenous medicine for culturally safe dementia care truly means, and values for modern medical systems in the lens of interdisciplinarity Indigenous health.
See Hom’s presentation, Traditional Healing and Medicine in Dementia Care for Indigenous Populations Worldwide: A Scoping Review; Friday, August 14th at 10:00 am PDT/ 2:00 pm ADT.
This presentation is adapted from a poster presented at the virtual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC 2020).
More of Hom’s work:
- “In Nepali culture, being 77 is really something to celebrate” published in Sudbury.com on August 2, 2017.
- Travelled to Amsterdam to the world’s first dementia village (2016): Observed the life’s of the 113 residents with dementia
- Served as a compassionate companion volunteer with the residents and seniors with dementia in long-term care facilities and Toronto’s Baycrest Hospital (2014-2016)
- Serving as a member of Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART) (Present)
- Serving as a member of National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) (Present)
- Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services, NIH (2017-Present)
- Deputy Speaker of Laurentian University Senate, and Members of the Council of English Language Programs and Faculty of Health Academic Council
- Advisor for the Patient & Family Advisory Council, Health Science North
Other presentations:
- National Research Summit on Dementia Care, Caregiving, and services
- Laurentian University Learning to Walk the Talk: An Indigenous Health Research Mini-series: 2 oral presentations with short movies
- Indigenous Mentorship Network Summer Institute (Opinicon Lake, 2020)
- Graduate Symposium on Laurentian Research Week of 2020:
- 10th Biennial Association for Anthropology, Gerontology and the Life Course International Conference (Oxford, England 2017): “Bura Janko–Honouring Old Age in Nepal”(A medieval New ceremony to celebrate old age in contemporary Nepal)
Awards:
- CTV Community Media Prize ($1,000) on Art-based Research Documentary Film Proposal Competition (2019)
- CTV Best Film and Broadcasting Group Award on “Dancing for a Cure” (2019)
- George Brown International Travel Scholarship, Study Tour for Dementia Village in Amsterdam (2016)
- Michael Cook Student Leadership Award (2016),
- George Brown College (2016)