CURRENT
FLIPPING STIGMA
Reducing Stigma and Promoting Social Inclusion of People with Dementia: Putting Social Citizenship into Practice is a community-based action research study striving to utilize the crucial perspectives of those people living with dementia in the community in order to combat the persistent stigma and social exclusion they face.
BUILDING CAPACITY PROJECT
The ‘Building Capacity’ project is a cross-Canada partnership between researchers at the University of British Columbia and Lakehead University, and members of the Westside Seniors Hub in Vancouver and the North West Dementia Working Group in Thunder Bay. This four-year project is one of the first to launch under the Public Health Agency of Canada and its new, federally funded Dementia Community Investment strategy.
At its core, the ‘Building Capacity’ project aims to enable people living with dementia to participate in community life as full social citizens. The team uses a bottom-up, asset-based community development (ABCD) approach to support the growth of innovative community initiatives that will foster inclusion and reduce stigma by creating meaningful opportunities for people with dementia to remain active and socially connected.
CITIZENSHIP ACROSS BORDERS
Research Team: Alison Phinney, Gloria Puurveen, Deborah O'Connor, Lillian Hung, Susan Cox, and Lee Burnside.
Brings together researchers and community partners from UW and UBC to investigate how to effectively support social citizenship of people with dementia in the health care system and the community at large.
THE
IDEAL
STUDY
Research Team: Jennifer Baumbusch (PI), Alison Phinney, Deborah O’Connor, Paddy Rodney, Catherine Ward-Griffin
Project Description: The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of how care is negotiated in long-term residential care (LTRC) facilities. This is a 4-year critical ethnography that aims to generate a rich, contextualized understanding of the negotiation of care work in LTRC and to clarify factors (e.g. policies, best practices) needed to foster supportive collaborative relationships among families, residents and staff and improve the health and well-being of these groups. Specifically, this study will allow for an examination of the influence of socio-political and cultural contextual factors (e.g. Social locations: gender, class racialization; Organizational factors: healthcare funding, provincial policies, LTRC restructuring) on the negotiation of care work among residents, family members and staff.
Interim Report: IDEAL Site 1 Interim Report September 2015
MAKING ART FOR MAKING PLACE
Making Art for Making Place: The Effect of Visual Art in a Transitional Care Setting
Research Team: Alison Phinney (PI), Landon Mackenzie, Michael Wilson
Funder: UBC Hampton Fund Research Grant
Project description: Students from Emily Carr University created paintings for Yale Road Centre, a transitional care facility in Surrey, BC. We are conducting a focused ethnography, conducting observations and interviewing students, staff, and residents to learn more the benefits of the art for people with dementia.
There is growing interest internationally in the potential for visual art in health care facilities to promote healing and wellness for patients, but the evidence base is very limited. Therefore, the specific aims of this study are: (1) to explore how paintings contribute to place-making by providing orientation cues and opportunities for social and emotional engagement of residents; and (2) to understand how the process of creating these paintings can influence students’ understanding of the social impact of their art.
NEW FRONTIERS IN EPISODIC MEMORY TRAINING FOR PERSONS WITH ALZHEIMERS DISEASE & MILD COGNITIVE
IMPAIRMENT
Research Team: Jeff Small
Funder: CIHR
Investigates how a memory training program called “Spaced Retrieval” (SR) might be effectively applied in helping persons with Alzheimer’s disease or Mild Cognitive Impairment improve their recent memory and quality of life. Phase 2 CIHR grant project is in the data analysis stage.
THE USE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CARE STAFF & RESIDENTS IN LONG-TERM RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITES
Research Team: R. Wilson, J. Small, A. Mihailidis
Funder: CFN Health Technology Innovation operating grant (funded through the federal Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program).
In long-term residential care (LTRC), many residents have cognitive impairments and/or do not speak English. These barriers make it difficult for them to communicate with care staff. Due to recent technological advances, a promising solution would be to pair mobile communication technology (e.g., tablet, smart phone) with mobile health communication Apps or “cApps”. For example, cApps that provide language translation or visual supports may enable care staff and residents to communicate more effectively. The purpose of this pilot study is to examine the current status of cApp availability in the app marketplace, survey use of cApps in LTRC practice, and generate recommendations for cApp features that would most effectively address communication challenges in LTRC. This project is in the data analysis stage. facilities.