Gail Elliot

B.A.Sc., M.A., Gerontologist and Dementia Specialist, is the Founder and CEO of DementiAbility Enterprises Inc.  She was the Assistant Director, Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging, at McMaster University for 17 years and took early retirement in March to focus on dementia education.  She is passionate about changing the face of dementia and dementia care.  Over the past 30 years she has gained the reputation as a leading expert in the field of aging, with a focus on interventions for dementia (including Montessori Methods for Dementia™ and Validation Therapy), cross-cultural awareness and elder abuse.  She has worked in academic settings and in the community.  In her role as an educator she has delivered workshops, presented at conferences, taught at the college and university level and spoken at workshops and conferences on a variety of topics in the field of aging both locally and internationally.  She is the author of a number of publications, including Montessori Methods for Dementia™;  Focusing on the Person and the Prepared Environment (2011) (which is now available in Australia and Hong Kong and soon to be released in the USA), Cross Cultural Awareness in an Aging Society (1999) and Series Editor of the “Carry on Reading in Dementia” books.