Our People

Vennus our Hong Kong champion has been delivering namaste care workshops to Dr. Wang of Taiwan. This has been an exciting development for NCI. As follow up Rishi, Joyce and Sara Karascony have been invited to attend conferences in Hong Kong and Taiwan in December 2024. Vennus is a senior executive as well as a trainer, with an interdisciplinary focus that spans the fields of gerontology, dementia care, palliative care, spirituality, and expressive arts. She has been appointed as a member of Guardianship Board of HKSAR Government since 2017. She is currently serving as the Superintendent of the Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union Kwong Yum Care Home. Vennus is committed to striving for the high quality aged care, developing innovative and holistic dementia and end-of-life care model and cultivating spiritual care and person-centred care for older adults. She has been providing training and consultancy services in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. She also published several articles in the area of dementia care and completed several evidence-based studies.
As a visual artist, social worker and arts therapist, Vennus is dedicated to integrating arts into life and promoting spirituality and wellness of people. She has been addressing the spiritual needs of older adults and caregivers, and employing expressive arts therapy to fill the niches of practice and research. With her leadership, the team is committed to developing spiritual end-of-life care centre which features Namaste Care to deliver high quality end-of-life care services to the persons with terminal illness and families with a spiritual care focus in the long-term care setting.

Joyce has many years of experience in health care settings as a social worker and dementia care specialist. She graduated with honours from Ithaca College in New York, USA and received a graduate degree from the University of Minnesota. Joyce has been in the long-term care industry since 1978, working with large healthcare organisations to provide services for nursing facilities and assisted living communities. She is recognised for developing innovative programs for people with all levels of memory loss and has developed “The Memory Enhancement Program” for people in the early stage, The Club for nursing home residents in the middle stage of a dementing illness and Namaste Care™ for people in the advanced stage of dementia. Joyce has authored numerous books, articles and chapters on dementia-related issues and is widely in demand as a speaker throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia.

Rishi is director of the Jawa Group in London, UK, and manages Oatlands & Oatleigh Care Village, a specialist elderly dementia care facility for 99 residents. Rishi is passionate about quality of care delivery and his role is pivotal to the company’s success. Every aspect of the care provided demonstrates a firm commitment to this ethos. The company has been a finalist in the best care home and lifetime achievement categories of the National Dementia Care Awards and also holds Silver Investors in People accreditation. Rishi is a pioneer in the field of care management software and has launched ‘Care Vision’ an innovative cloud-based app for use specifically in the care home setting.

Gillian is Register of the Jawa Group of dementia care homes in London, UK, with specific responsibility for quality assurance and regulatory compliance. She has an extensive background in healthcare public relations, communication and academic administration. Gillian has held senior executive positions with the Optical Information Council, the Eyecare Information Service, Specsavers Optical Group and the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. She is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers and a Millennium Founder Freeman of the Company of Public Relations Practitioners. Within the Jawa Group Gillian also facilitates clinical placements, manages projects and events, and oversees the company’s continuing ‘Investors in People’ journey.

Ladislav received his MD from the Charles University Medical School and PhD from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic. He was Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School in Boston, MA and Clinical Director of the Geriatric Research Center in the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, MA. Twenty five years ago Ladislav established one of the first Dementia Special Care Units and introduced the concept of structured palliative care for patients with advanced dementia. Goals of care on these units are quality of life, dignity and comfort instead of prolongation of life at all costs. He is recognised as an international expert on advanced dementia care and has spoken many times at national and international conferenced. Ladislav is currently the Courtesy Full Professor at the School of Ageing Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, Fl, Visiting Professor at the 3rd Medical Faculty, Prague, Czech Republic and Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Sydney

Hanneke is an associate director of NCI she plays a crucial role in coordinating training frameworks and collaborations in clinical research. Hanneke is a genuine force of positive change and has been a pioneer for the spread of namaste across Netherlands and the rest of the world. Hanneke Smaling has Master’s degrees in Clinical Neuropsychology and Organizational Psychology. She did her PhD from 2011-2016 at Leiden University. Hanneke works as a senior researcher at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and University Network for the Care sector South-Holland (a network of the LUMC and 12 affiliated healthcare institutions). For the research project ‘Effects on quality of life and family caregiving experience by the Namaste Care Family program for advanced dementia’, Hanneke has trained nursing staff of 12 nursing homes in the Netherlands and helped them implement Namaste Care in their homes. Hanneke is also the associate director of Namaste Care International.

Meng Jin is a postgraduate student at the School of Nursing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, specializing in geriatric nursing. Under the guidance of her academic mentor, Dijuan Meng, she integrates the Namaste Care program with the richness of Chinese traditions and the principles of traditional Chinese medicine. She has meticulously developed the Namaste Care Community Program with her academic mentor.

They have carefully adapted the Namaste Care Community Program, establishing a service schedule and caregiver training. Their initiative to marry Namaste Care with Chinese culture and TCM’s integral philosophy creates a harmonious care experience deeply rooted in the cultural norms and holistic health principles cherished by Chinese older adults. This pioneering integration aims to soothe and relieve the symptoms and uplift the spirit, cultivating a tranquil well-being state for individuals with dementia.

This encapsulates the essence of their vision: connecting older adults and their loved ones, blending the best of Namaste Care with the enduring wisdom of Chinese culture.

Meng Jin earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.

Dijuan Meng holds the position of Associate Professor and Master’s Supervisor at the School of Nursing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.

Dijuan Meng has devoted her career to research and practice in the field of eldercare, focusing on providing care for older adults with dementia. From October 2019 to November 2020, she was invited to visit the Johns Hopkins University Center for Aging and Health Innovation in the United States, where she engaged in exchanges with top international experts in geriatric nursing. She has actively participated in the cultural adaptation and implementation of two dementia care training projects in China, including the Namaste Community Care Program (NCCP). Dijuan Meng has crafted the program for China, ensuring it is received enthusiastically and openly. She primarily identifies with the Namaste Care approach based on the best available evidence and person-centered principles. This approach aligns perfectly with her goal of promoting high-quality dementia care and enhancing the quality of life for older adults and their caregivers.

Dijuan Meng earned her Master’s degree in Nursing from Peking Union Medical College and her Ph.D. in Integrative Clinical Medicine from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.

Vennus our Hong Kong champion has been delivering namaste care workshops to Dr. Wang of Taiwan. This has been an exciting development for NCI. As follow up Rishi, Joyce and Sara Karascony have been invited to attend conferences in Hong Kong and Taiwan in December 2024. Vennus is a senior executive as well as a trainer, with an interdisciplinary focus that spans the fields of gerontology, dementia care, palliative care, spirituality, and expressive arts. Since 2017 she has been appointed a member of Guardianship Board of HKSAR Government, and currently serves as Superintendent of the Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union Kwong Yum Care Home. Vennus is committed to striving for high quality aged care, developing innovative and holistic dementia and end-of-life care models, and cultivating spiritual care and person-centred care for older adults. She provides training and consultancy services in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong and has also published a number of articles in the area of dementia care and completed several evidence-based studies. As a visual artist, social worker and arts therapist, Vennus is dedicated to integrating arts into life and promoting spirituality and wellness of people.

Hanneke is an associate director of NCI she plays a crucial role in coordinating training frameworks and collaborations in clinical research. Hanneke is a genuine force of positive change and has been a pioneer for the spread of namaste across Netherlands and the rest of the world. Hanneke Smaling has Master’s degrees in Clinical Neuropsychology and Organizational Psychology. She did her PhD from 2011-2016 at Leiden University. Hanneke works as a senior researcher at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and University Network for the Care sector South-Holland (a network of the LUMC and 12 affiliated healthcare institutions). For the research project ‘Effects on quality of life and family caregiving experience by the Namaste Care Family program for advanced dementia’, Hanneke has trained nursing staff of 12 nursing homes in the Netherlands and helped them implement Namaste Care in their homes. Hanneke is also the associate director of Namaste Care International.

Gong Zengliang (Adam) is the Care Management Expert of Taikang Community, mainly responsible for memory care business and lifestyle program.

Gong Zengliang (Adam) entered the senior care industry in 2012 and has held various positions, including senior care business strategy and operation planning, investment and operation of senior care apartments. He has participated in the preparation of two Sino-foreign (China-US, China-Australia) joint venture of senior care projects, introduced the world’s leading dementia care programs into China, and served as the General Manager of the memory care flagship community.
Gong Zengliang (Adam) graduated from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences with a master’s degree in management science and engineering; and from Beijing Normal University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

龚增良简介
龚增良担任泰康之家护理管理专家，主要负责记忆照护业务和护理文娱业务。
龚增良2012年进入养老行业，历任多种岗位，包括养老业务战略和经营规划，养老公寓的投资和运营。曾参与两个中外（中美、中澳）合资养老项目筹建，导入国际先进认知症照护体系，并曾担任记忆照护旗舰社区的院长。
龚增良研究生毕业于中国科学院大学，获管理科学与工程硕士学位；本科毕业于北京师范大学，获心理学学士学位。

Christina Cosgrove, LICSW, is the Director of the Social Service department at the Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington, VT, where she has been employed for over 20 years. Christina was instrumental in developing “Namaste” with Joyce Simard, MSW in 2001. Christina received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan where she also graduated with a specialty in geriatrics certification. Christina represented the field of Social Work on the Vermont Governor’s Commission for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias for over 10 years. Christina lives in Rupert, VT and enjoys reading, music and walks in nature.

Sara is a Lecturer in Nursing at the Sydney-based campus of the University of Tasmania. Her clinical background is in palliative care nursing in which she has wide-ranging experience across acute, specialist and residential aged care. Sara’s research interests include care of the older person, palliative care and the teaching of palliative care philosophy and principles to nursing students and nurses. Sara’s PhD research through Western Sydney University’s Aged Care and Palliation research stream focused on the residential aged care workforce and palliation. Sara was project officer on the first funded research project in Australia to evaluate Namaste Care in residential aged care facilities. Currently, Sara is leading a project to implement and evaluate the benefits of Namaste Care in an aged care ward within a teaching hospital in Greater Sydney.

Simona expounds business professionals in corporate companies to help meaningfully and non-profit organisations to think in business-like ways. Through consultations, mentoring, external project management, she collaborates with projects that have decided to professionalize their activities and with companies that have decided to share their success and support high quality socially responsible organisations. With her social worker education she is able to combine the heart of a social worker and the brain of a manager. For her, Namaste care is not just a technique for patients but also the key to professionalize and support teams in care homes and to strengthen dignity in the social sphere. For patients, for nurses, for care givers, for all.

After leaving universityMin worked as an auxiliary nurse at St Christopher’s Hospice, London subsequently training as a registered nurse in Cardiff and then specialising in care of older people. She managed a “long stay” ward at Colindale Hospital while working part time as a research assistant with Professor Dame June Clarke at Middlesex University. Min returned to St Christopher’s Hospice as a staff nurse, then worked in the community as a palliative care CNS for 10 years. During this time she studied for an MSc in palliative care at King’s College, London. In 2009 she moved to work as Nurse Facilitator for End of Life Care for People with Dementia with the Modernisation Initiative’s End of life Care programme (Guy’s and St Thomas’s Charity). In 2011, she returned to St Christopher’s to work with the Care Home Project Team as nurse researcher for the Namaste Care Programme Action Research Study. She worked at St Christopher’s Hospice, between the education department and the community palliative care service for frail older people, until 2015. Min has continued to teach on the Namaste Care programme and palliative care for people with dementia, lecturing nationally and internationally.

Lena started working as a social worker in a small municipality of the island of Crete. Since 2007 she has worked in close care settings with elderly people and people with dementia. Lena is now assistant director of two units, ‘Hliaxtida’ (meaning sunshine’for people with dementia and ‘Irida’ (colours of the rainbow) for elderly people with chronic diseases and serious health problems. She is responsible for client admissions, activity programmes, staff education and practical trainingof university nursing and social work students and also supports and educates relatives caring for the elderly.With a special interest in design, organisation and implementation of activities for the elderly,Lena is constantly searching for new ways to improve the quality of life of elderly people living in close care settings. She is one of the first members of the Alzheimer’s Association in her home city of Heraklion. Lena is an expert speaker educating the public on dementia issues and is a member of a scientific team implementing memory enhancement programmes for dementia patients. She is also a member of a new association – “Reading for Others” – and is responsible for its volunteer training.Lena is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Health and Social Medicine at the Medical University of Greece.

Psychologist, expert in organizations and aging. Founder of FocosArgento, a social enterprise aimed at promoting the well-being and quality of life of people with disabilities and cognitive impairments within healthcare facilities (nursing homes, hospitals). She collaborates with many health care facilities to support care staff to put into practice a bio-psychosocial approach and person-centred care principles to dementia care. She is the learning and development lead for Italy of the Best Practice in Dementia Care Learning Programme, a learning resource for all frontline health and social care staff which was developed by the Dementia Services Development Center (DSDC), University of Stirling. She is a Qualified teacher Isna-Mse (modul 1) for training on Snoezelen-Mse approach. Expert in the multisensory psychosocial approach for promoting the well-being of people with dementia.

Colette graduated from University College Cork in Ireland with an Applied Psychology degree and moved to the UK to work in London in the field of mental health. She worked as a student psychiatric nurse during which time she completed her Master’s degree. Colette decided on social work as a career and graduated in 1990 from University of Swansea in Wales. Her first job was as deputy manager of a residential care home. The field of older people and mental health has always been a particular interest and passion for Colette. She has witnessed many changes in the care of people living with dementia. Working holistically with people in the community has remained her focus at St Joseph’s Hospice in her role as Namaste Care manager.

Hello my name is Emily Brown and I have been doing Namaste Care at Medway Hospital since June 2020 working along side the End Of Life Team but I have known and been trained in Namaste Care since 2012 when Joyce came to Medway.

Emily has won the hospital hero award relating to her Namaste care provision in the hospital setting. She has also been the first NHS appointed Namaste practitioner, An amazing achievement for one of our trailblazing champions.

We continue to use Namaste Care in the hospital and the benefits for our hospital patients are outstanding. I am lucky to have the support of Namaste Care International and am proud to be the hospital champion for the UK. We already have two training sessions booked up in the hospital within the next couple of months so more people can understand, appreciate and use Namaste Care.

I have been in care since 2008 and found my passion when working with people with dementia and Alzheimer’s and end of life care. I started at Medway hospital in November 2019 and noticed something was missing and that thing was Namaste Care. With the help of my colleagues and Namaste Care International Namaste Care in now within the hospital setting and we are aiming for it to be throughout the NHS.
Here at Medway hospital we are very excited to announce our new Namaste Care service. Namaste care is an alternative holistic treatment for people with dementia, and those with an end of life care plan. We offer a wide variety of options: from hot towel shaves to light hand massages, music and oils in our sessions, promoting exercises and encouraging food/ fluid intake. We know that Namaste care gives our patients a better experience while staying with us in hospital. Namaste care is person centred and is tailored to individual needs. As the first Namaste Care Practitioner in a UK hospital I will be visiting the wards to provide Namaste care. If you have a patient that you feel would benefit from a Namaste care session and they meet the criteria please feel free to contact me. My contact details are on the back.

Viv Stead is Recreation and Well-Being Manager at Nellsar, a family run care group with 13 Care Homes located across Kent, Surrey and Essex providing residential, nursing and dementia care for the elderly. She is responsible for the group’s Recreation and Well-Being teams, with a focus on ensuring that residents enjoy tailored daily activities and live life to the fullest. Viv had her first insight into Namaste in 2018 when she received training from the Heart of Kent Hospice. She knew there was a gap in activities provision for those with later stage dementia and end of life care, and believed that the person-centred, sensory Namaste approach would be beneficial for many of her residents. Since then, she has been working hard to champion Namaste care within Nellsar, she attended the  Namaste care International conference with colleagues, and has received amazing support from Rishi and the Namaste care International team, She has organised training for team members and helped to embed Namaste in seven Nellsar Homes, with more to come. It’s Viv absolute passion that her and her teams honour the inner spirit of the unique and wonderful people they care for. She is delighted to have been asked by Namaste Care International to be a Namaste care ambassador.