Approximately four percent of children in elementary schools suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This disorder places children at an increased risk for developing problems such as antisocial behaviour, substance abuse and career difficulties. Carla Seipp is examining whether parents’ responsiveness to a child may be an important influence on the risks and impairments associated with ADHD. Carla will compare responsiveness during interactions between mothers and sons with ADHD, and mothers and sons with no behavioural difficulties. By focusing on the family environments of children with ADHD, Carla hopes to identify parenting behaviours that could reduce the risks and impairments associated with the disorder.
Research Pillar: Population Health
Sociality of pain behaviour: Potentiation by an audience
Effective pain management depends upon successful pain assessment, which is measured through careful attention to a patient’s verbal and nonverbal communications. This task is complex, because the way a patient expresses pain during assessment is influenced by the presence of health care practitioners, family members and other patients. In spite of tremendous recent advances in understanding the physiology and pharmacology of pain, the complex social relationships affecting pain communications are only now beginning to be studied. Melanie Badali’s earlier research focused upon the role of memory as it affects children’s and parents’ assessments of the child’s pain. Now, she is examining how people communicate pain if they believe the person observing can assist in relieving the pain. Melanie anticipates her investigations will help improve the accuracy of pain assessment and management, thereby ultimately reducing suffering from acute and chronic pain.
Gathering strengths: Contexts that reduce aboriginal children's risk for mental health problems
Research indicates peer victimization among children occurs every seven minutes on the playground, and every 25 minutes in the classroom. Wendy Hoglund is investigating the effects of rumour spreading, hitting, and other types of victimization on First Nations children’s healthy development in elementary school. She is examining how peer victimization affects areas such as mental health and academic competence. She is also assessing whether First Nations children in schools with more First Nations children and First Nations Programs, for example, experience less peer victimization and have better mental health, social, and academic outcomes than First Nations children in other school contexts. Wendy hopes this information will the development of preventative policies and programs to promote the health of First Nations children in Canada.
The effects of bone mineral density (BMD) testing on behaviour change over 3 years
Osteoporosis develops when bone density deteriorates, which causes bones to become fragile and fracture easily. Little data exists to demonstrate whether people modify their lifestyle after receiving bone density test results that indicate they are at risk of osteoporosis. Elaine Kingwell is assessing whether bone density testing influences people to seek information about osteoporosis and to adopt preventative behaviours believed to have a positive impact on bone density. The behaviours include increasing calcium and vitamin D intake, participating in physical exercise, and taking medications to prevent and treat osteoporosis. Elaine is also studying the way bone density test results are communicated to patients, to determine whether people are more likely to make lifestyle changes when they receive their results directly or when results are sent via their family physician.
The relationship between socioeconomic status and short-acting beta-agonist use by asthmatics in BC
Asthma is a chronic disease that affects approximately one in 20 Canadians. Research has shown an association between lower socioeconomic status and poorer outcomes for asthma patients, including more hospital admissions and emergency room visits and a greater likelihood of a fatal attack. Excessive use of short-acting bronchodilators, which help manage acute episodes of asthma, indicates inadequate asthma control and has been associated with poorer outcomes. Larry Lynd is investigating whether there is a relationship between lower socioeconomic status-measured by education, income, occupation and characteristics of residence-poor asthma control, and the overuse of bronchodilators. Confirming that relationship could determine whether inappropriate management of asthma is at least partially responsible for poorer outcomes. Larry hopes this research can lead to policies and strategies aimed at improving the management of asthmatics of lower socioeconomic status.
An evaluation of the full circle project: The effects of a theatre-based HIV prevention intervention on audience and actor/educator learning
What are the best ways to ensure young people listen to and act upon information about avoiding high risk sexual behaviours? This is the research focus for Josephine MacIntosh, who is delving into the individual, social and cultural factors that may perpetuate the epidemics of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, especially among young women. Josephine is studying the effectiveness of using a theatre-based intervention program among youth aged 13 to 15. The theatre productions will consist of a series of original dramatic productions researched, scripted, produced and presented by youth volunteers. She hopes to develop an educational approach that can engage the audience and actors as they learn about issues such as abstinence, treatment of HIV and sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy prevention, decision-making, peer-pressure, negotiation for safer sex and alternative safer sexual behaviours.
Adverse drug effects among persons using antiretroviral therapy for HIV Disease and impact on treatment patterns
Antiretroviral drugs successfully suppress the HIV virus and reduce mortality, but many people living with HIV and AIDS cannot benefit fully from the medication due to adverse side effects. These side effects make it difficult for people to take the drugs consistently, or at all. Many side effects do not become apparent until after people have taken antiretroviral drugs for a prolonged period. Dr. Katherine Heath is establishing a monitoring system to track adverse reactions to antiretroviral drugs, identify and describe newly emerging side effects, and assess the impact of these side effects on antiretroviral use in BC. Dr. Heath-based at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, which houses the only North-American population-based database of information on people using antiretroviral drugs-hopes her research will enable early detection of trends or new side effects, lead to early intervention and ultimately improve the health of people living with HIV and AIDS.
Pain in preterm infants
Dr. Ruth Grunau is a world expert on the measurement and long-term consequences of pain in newborns and premature infants in neonatal intensive care units. From the late 1980s, when she conducted landmark research on measures for assessing pain in infants, she has continuously added to the body of research concerning how early pain experiences in very low birthweight infants may affect their clinical and developmental outcomes. Dr. Grunau is conducting several studies on pain and stress in fragile premature infants whose medical care involves repeated exposure to invasive procedures. She is studying how to distinguish pain from stress in very premature infants, and how pain, sedation and analgesia may affect their neurobehavioural development. She is investigating the effects of repetitive pain on attention, behavioural organization and development in very premature infants and toddlers. Finally, she is studying whether positive maternal interaction may moderate the potentially negative effects of neonatal intensive care unit experiences. By learning the most effective ways to minimize any detrimental consequences caused by early repetitive pain and stress, Dr. Grunau’s goal is to help clinicians improve the short- and long-term outcomes of very premature infants.
Studying the health care workers: A program of research on the relationships between work and health
The face of health care and the working environment for health care workers in Canada is changing, bringing increasing job complexity, an aging work force, changes in the delivery of patient care, and concerns for employee recruitment and retention. These changes have been coupled with cost containment strategies – such as restructuring – that alter the resources that staff have available to do their work. Dr. Mieke Koehoorn’s research focuses on how the work environment affects the health and well-being of health care workers in BC. She is using the BC Linked Health Database in conjunction with hospital employee and survey data to create a comprehensive population-based, person-specific, longitudinal database of health care workers. The database, recording information such as health care utilization, workers’ compensation and long-term disability records, is unique in its depth and breadth. Dr. Koehoorn is using this information to describe the health and health care utilization of health care workers and investigate the workplace practices and conditions that predict health outcomes. By understanding the complex determinants of health for health care workers, Dr. Koehoorn hopes to help inform industry decision-makers to allocate resources and implement workplace policies and procedures that improve employee health and performance and reduce work-related disability.
The impact of changing work and community conditions on the health of workers and their children in BC resource dependent communities
Health research has established a strong link between socio-economic status and health outcomes. However, in BC’s resource-dependent communities, the income and social status situations for many workers vary throughout their working lives as a result of changing technologies and labour market conditions. Downsizing and restructuring in the labour market often results in greater frequency and duration of unemployment. Workers who retain their jobs often experience increased work stress in adapting to new on-the-job requirements, and entire resource-based communities are affected when industries downsize and restructure. Dr. Aleck Ostry is focusing on the health of workers in resource-based industries, and the health of their children. Dr. Ostry is studying the health outcomes of more than 28,000 sawmill workers between 1950 and 1998 in 14 BC sawmills, as well as approximately 23,000 of these workers’ children. He will explore to what extent labour market experiences at work and in the community affect the health outcomes of workers, and how these experiences also affect the health of their children. As changing market conditions in the global economy affect workforces throughout the world, this research is gaining national and international recognition.