e-Campus - Work Wellness Institute

Ms. Maureen Parkinson has worked for over 25 years as the BC Cancer Agency provincial vocational rehabilitation counselor. Previously, she worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for a public rehabilitation hospital, a vocational rehabilitation consultant for insurance and law firms, and as instructor/facilitator of job search and career exploration programs for contracted services by Service Canada. She has been the co-lead of www.cancerandwork.ca website and co-authored a commission paper for the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology called Cancer and Work: A Canadian Perspective. She has developed job search and return to work seminars for cancer patients and developed Cancer and Returning to Work: A Practical Guide for Cancer Patients. She has been involved in research of cancer survivors focusing on return to work, rehabilitation, quality of life, and cognitive challenges. She is a Canadian Certified Rehabilitation Counsellor and has completed the Certified Return to Work Coordinator Program and is a sessional instructor for the Cancer and Worker Support course offered by Pacific Coast University. Maureen earned her Bachelor’s in Psychology from UBC and a Master’s in counseling from the University of Toronto. In her spare time, Maureen enjoys biking and swimming.

Christine Maheu is an Associate Professor at the Ingram School of Nursing at McGill University and an affiliate scientist at the McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, Cancer Program. Dr. Maheu research interests include developing interventions that address the following cancer survivorship issues: return to work, fear of cancer recurrence, managing cancer-distress, uncertainty, and coping. Dr. Maheu is the Co-Director of Cancer and Work (www.cancerandwork.ca), a Canadian bilingual website created with a multidisciplinary team and expert writers to address the gap in return-to-work support for cancer survivors. She is currently co-leading a clinical trial for the management of fear of cancer recurrence with breast and gynecological cancer survivors and developing cancer and work tool to assess readiness for return to work. She holds funds from the Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. Dr. Maheu received excellence awards in nursing research (2013, 2015, 2016) from Ovarian Cancer Canada, Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology, and Association Québécoise des infirmières en Oncologie (AQIO)/Quebec Association of Nurses in Oncology. Dr. Maheu is the recipient of a junior 2 FRQ-S career award. Christine is the director-at-large for research for the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology/Association Canadienne des infirmières en oncologie (CANO/ACIO), a national organization with a mission to advance oncology nursing excellence through practice, education, research, and leadership for the benefit of all Canadians. Christine has a Ph.D. in nursing with an emphasis in psychosocial oncology from the University of British Columbia, a Post-doctorate from the University of Toronto, and a Master’s and Bachelor degree in nursing from l’Université de Montréal. In her spare time, Christine enjoys marathon training and spending time with her husband and three teenage children.