Northumberland PACE Speakers Series welcomes Dr. Sandra Demaries for February’s conversation, ‘Am I Happy Yet? Pursuing Happiness in a Wellness-Saturated Culture’

The next event in the Northumberland PACE partners’ speakers series will take place on Thursday, February 23 at 5:30 PM with a virtual discussion led by Dr. Sandra Demaries on the topic, ‘Am I Happy Yet? Pursuing Happiness in a Wellness-Saturated Culture.’

Trained as a General Psychiatrist, Dr. Demaries also holds a sub-specialty in Geriatric Psychiatry (one of three psychiatric sub-specialties recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons) and has committed most of her career to helping older adults.

Here in Northumberland, Dr. Demaries has served as an in-patient consultant at Northumberland Hills Hospital, where she has worked with patients presenting with psychiatric symptoms identified through the course of their in-patient stay in hospital, as well as those dealing with the challenges of dementia, Alzheimer’s and other cognitive-type conditions.

At the February PACE talk, Dr. Demaries will explore important questions related to our societal preoccupation with the pursuit of happiness, including: “How do we define happiness and wellness?”, “How have some experts in the field viewed happiness? Is it attainable?” and “What are the most evidence-supported practices for mental (and physical) wellbeing?”

As is standard within the PACE Talk format, questions from the audience will also be addressed. These questions may be pre-submitted by emailing mbhargava@imcare.ca prior to February 23, 2023 or, time permitting, posed live during the event itself.

Since 2018, The Northumberland PACE partners have been hosting free public education sessions on a broad range of health and wellness topics and have consistently drawn large groups of community members with a variety of questions and perspectives. Like many other events, the Northumberland PACE speakers series adapted to a virtual format as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating partners continue to increase, with the Ontario Health Team of Northumberland joining the founding partners at the planning table for the current season.

Lasting an hour in length, each PACE talk consists of a 30-minute talk, a 20-minute question-and-answer period with the guest speaker(s) and a short moderator summary.

Bring your questions, your suggestions, and your experience and join in what is expected to be another informative discussion on a topic chosen by previous PACE attendees!

Pre-registration is required and space is limited to the first 300 registered attendees. This event is hosted through Zoom, and attendees are asked to login to the event 5 minutes prior to the start. Register for ‘Am I Happy Yet? Pursuing Happiness in a Wellness-Saturated Culture’ today at www.pacetalks.com, where you’ll also find recordings from many of the previous seasons’ talks prepared by student partners from Loyalist College.

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