Debra Sheets

Dr. Sheets joined the School of Nursing in 2009 and is a full Professor. She received her doctorate in Gerontology and Public Policy from the University of Southern California. Dr. Sheets is an affiliate of the Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria and is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), the Gerontological Society of America and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE).
Her research interests focus on gerontology—and in particular dementia, caregiving, and humanities and arts in aging. Dr. Sheets served as co-site lead for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) at the University of Victoria from 2012 to 2018. Dr. Sheets is one of the lead researchers for the Voices in Motion Choir—an intergenerational choir for people with dementia and their family caregiver that is reducing social isolation and the stigma of dementia. She is also involved in research on voice first technologies investigating how they can support the independence and social connections of older adults. Currently she is leading a Dementia Friendly Victoria initiative aimed at developing a network of community partners offering inclusive and participatory intergenerational activities for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
She has published in the Journal of Aging, Humanities and the Arts, International Journal of the Humanities, The Gerontologist, the International Journal of the Arts in Society, and Generations