With the increasing prevalence of mobile devices, it is unsurprising that they are also being adapted for use as tools for learning and perfecting complex procedures. One of these uses is training health care providers through simulated medical procedures. Two important points should be considered when designing simulated systems to assess the efficacy and efficiency of these teaching tools. 1) Individual differences in emotional biases and learning profiles may necessitate personalized stimulus presentations within simulated environments to achieve optimal and translatable learning.

The goal of this project is to provide evidence of validity for two newly developed measures of quality of life; one for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and one for acne. Both HS and acne negatively impact quality of life; however, to date, there are no disease-specific, patient-centered quality of life measures. The results of this project will provide healthcare professionals with tools to assess the impact of these conditions and their treatments (HS and acne) on patients’ quality of life.

The proposed research will attempt to help residents reduce energy use in apartment buildings. The intern will provide residents with energy use feedback that shows their building’s energy use compared to a neighboring building. Buildings that reduce energy use will receive encouragement to continue conserving. The intern will work with two partnering utilities companies, FortisBC and BC Hydro. These partners will help provide energy use data for each building during the project.

Hearing aid research has traditionally focused on improving speech intelligibility for people with hearing loss, but there is increasing interest in addressing other aspects of hearing that contribute to quality of life, particularly music and other non-linguistic information. Listening to music through hearing aids is often dissatisfying due to distortions introduced by current algorithms. Hearing aids restore the intelligibility but not the emotional content of speech, which is carried by acoustic cues that are similar to salient dimensions of music.

There is emerging evidence from studies at the Montreal General Hospital supporting the effect of prehabilitation (also referred to as preoperative conditioning) on postoperative outcomes. Increasing physical fitness and optimizing nutrition in cancer patients before surgery can help patients feel physically stronger, return to their community functions sooner and potentially undergo adjuvant cancer treatment earlier than expected.

Assistive Technology (AT) allows children with Specific Learning Disabilities (LDs) to adequately access school curriculum. There is a paucity of literature addressing perception of use and training for teachers to support use. Studies suggest that children with AT like their devices and find them useful. The proposed study will examine the ages of children provided AT devices, the types of AT hardware and software being used by children with various learning limitations in a school environment, and children’s perception of their AT devices.

Created by senior wealth advisor David Allard, Retireability Score (RS) is an innovative web-based retirement readiness assessment survey that plays an integral part in the retirement planning service operated by the Navigation team of ScotiaWealth. Unlike majority of retirement planning services, which focus exclusively on financial readiness, the RS and its associated program address non-financial aspects of retirement planning that are also important to ensure a satisfying life in retirement.

This project will aim to improve the effectiveness of the delivery of cultural competency training programs to London Cross Cultural Learner Centre’s clients. In order to achieve this goal, the interns will be involved in clarifying employer needs and preferences, and the marketing mechanism that would be needed to improve delivery efficiency. The research process will involve interviews, focus groups, and reviews of the literature.

The aim of The Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) is to help combat the spread of HIV by supporting, conducting, and sharing the best research possible. This project will involve a novel analysis incorporating focus groups with front-line service providers and key informants to help determine the factors that most influence the perception of HIV risk.

The use of mobile technology is on the rise including access to mental health-related applications and websites. There is a wealth of information available and numerous intervention strategies focused on treatment and support for mental health concerns. However, inpatient psychiatry often discourages patients' use of electronic technologies and web-accessible mobile phones. The proposed study involves brief interviews with patients admitted to inpatient care at St.