This award supports the development of a multidisciplinary research team focused on applying operations research methods to improve access to cancer treatments. Initially the team will focus on access to radiation therapy, which is used by half of all cancer patients. The team’s objectives will be to develop operations research models that enhance access to radiation therapy and improve clinical outcomes; test and validate the models; and apply the research to improve access to cancer treatments in general.
Research Location: University of British Columbia
Rehabilitation Aimed at Muscle Performance (RAMP)
This award supports the creation of a team to study how muscle in elderly people with chronic conditions responds to rehabilitative exercise protocols designed to optimize function and decrease disability. The RAMP team aims to develop an integrated research strategy that spans from cellular to clinical rehabilitation research. The strategy will include consideration of how co-existing conditions, such as chronic respiratory or heart disease, affect muscle response to exercise. The overall goal is to develop safe and effective exercise programs that elderly people will find appealing and be able to adhere to.
CORRECT Groups: Collaborative Resources for Research on Counselling and Therapy Groups
Group therapy has become a widely used form of non-pharmacological treatment of mental illness. Despite the widespread use of group therapy in BC and elsewhere, research on the complexities of efficient and effective application of group therapy has been limited and fragmentary. This award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary team of researchers to focus on developing a better, more integrated understanding of group therapy as a mental health intervention. The team’s research could have a significant impact on patient management and help clarify how group therapy services should be supported.
Technology-Enabled Knowledge Translation Investigative Centre (TEKTIC)
The mission of the Technology Enabled Knowledge Translation Investigative Centre—or TEKTIC—is to understand, explore, and innovate on how information and communications technologies (ICT) can be used effectively to accelerate the translation of health research evidence into routine practice and health system implementation. The Centre’s research currently focuses on chronic disease management through ICT.
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Parkinson’s Disease and Monoaminergic Function in the Central Nervous System
The MSFHR Research Unit in Parkinson’s disease and monoaminergic function in the Central Nervous System brings together clinical and basic neuroscientists, epidemiologists, imaging scientists and chemists, all focused on a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease, its complications, and related disorders such as depression and addictive behaviours.
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Centre for Human Islet Transplant and Beta Cell Regeneration
The Centre for Human Islet Transplant and Beta-Cell Regeneration (CHITBR) supports scientists and clinicians from nine different disciplines—from bench to bedside—to conduct research addressing the main limitations of beta-cell transplant.
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Assessment of Pain, Psychosocial Variables, Cognitive Variables, and Work Outcomes in Healthcare Workers Registered in PEARS Programs – A Longitudinal Study
To explore the relationship between depression, pain, and specific cognitive factors in healthcare workers who have had a work-related injury, and how these factors influence their ability and the time it will take for them to recover from injury and return safely to work.
Priority Setting, Health Care Utilisation and Outcomes Evaluation in Seniors’ Care in Interior Health
With about 20% of the region’s population being 65 years and older, the proportion of seniors in the Central Interior region is high compared with provincial and national averages (13%). Projections over the next ten years suggest that the seniors’ population in this region will continue to exceed that of other regions and provinces. As a result, health care for seniors has been identified by Interior Health as one of its key areas of strategic interest.
The control of visual attention by the demands of locomotion – implications for movement disorders and their clinical diagnosis
For sighted individuals, normal everyday activities such as walking down a busy street or through a crowded grocery store are based on using vision to identify not just where one is headed, but what obstacles and hazards need to be avoided as well. While this ability to visually guide our actions may appear effortless, the task requires a complex coupling between the visual and motor systems. When disease or brain injury compromises these links between the visual and motor systems it becomes acutely obvious how much the brain is doing behind the scenes to promote normal motor behaviour. Most research on visual attention and its role in normal cognitive function has long centered on describing how it helps to recognize and identify objects in the visual world. Dr. Todd Handy’s research examines the reverse: the effect movements and locomotion have on vision, which is a previously unexplored facet of visual-motor interactions. Using a system that provides video-simulated motion and measurements of brain activity, Dr. Handy is studying how visual attention automatically responds to the many perceptual demands of locomotion – keeping track of the direction one is heading, recognizing stationary obstacles that may be looming in the path, and noticing moving objects in the periphery that may ultimately be on a collision course without conscious attention to these elements. Dr. Handy hopes his research will contribute to a better understanding of these visual-motor interactions and may provide a promising new method of diagnosing clinical motor disorders.
Job tenure of people with severe mental illness registered in supported employment programs
Although many people with severe mental health problems are ready and available to integrate into the competitive workplace, more than 80 per cent of this group are unemployed. For those who obtain employment, job tenure is typically brief, lasting an average of 3 to 7 months. Supported Employment (SE) programs have been developed to help people with mental problems obtain and maintain employment. Though these SE initiatives fare better than other vocational programs, they still encounter difficulties regarding implementation issues and individual differences in job tenure. Dr. Marc Corbière is evaluating the programmatic and individual components of SE initiatives in the Greater Vancouver area. He is interviewing SE program directors and employment specialists, and asking participants (300-400 people) to fill out questionnaires and tests. From these results, Dr. Corbière will create and evaluate a novel and integrated model of job tenure for people with mental illness, including the ‘best’ program services and individual components. Results of his research will bring a new understanding to the vocational rehabilitation field by determining the key factors for maintaining employment for people with severe mental illness.