Improving Research to Practice: Investigating the Feasibility of Community Organizations Developing Methods to Ensure Implementation Efforts Address the Needs and Priorities of the Spinal Cord Injury Community

Members of the SCI community must be involved in the process of designing and implementing SCI research to ensure the largest impact possible. SCI Ontario, an organization that supports people with SCI, is strategically planning their efforts to ensure research is used in practice. Understanding the needs and priorities of SCI communities and their families […]

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Field Study of Community-Based Personal Support Workers’ Occupational Exposures to Injury Risk Factors

Personal Support Workers (PSWs) provide 70-80% of all paid home care. Unfortunately, they experience occupational injuries at more than twice the rate of the general population. These injuries increase costs for home care providers, reduce the availability of skilled workers, reduce workers’ quality of life, and impact the consistency of care that can be provided […]

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Proof of Principle Application for Biosensors in Animal Models

NXTSens has developed an implantable continuous monitoring, stand-alone and potentially mass-producible microsensor for accurate monitoring of tissue pressure and temperature in damaged limb muscles to better diagnose ACS. The proposed research will involve several sub-projects that include: i) develop appropriate surgical models for the accurate and reproducible placement of the microsensors in rodent compartments; ii) […]

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Understanding the cellular mechanisms sustaining functional capacity improvement with prehabilitation in colorectal cancer patients

Cancer is associated with weight loss, decreased muscle strength and inflammation. This has a tremendous impact on daily activity, autonomy and quality of life, involving both patients and care-givers. I previously worked on a preoperative intervention called ‘pre-habilitation’, a personalized exercise and nutritional supplementation delivered before surgery. The main idea is to prevent postoperative complications […]

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Temperature and dosage dependence of biological damage induced by ultraviolet germicidal irradiation on pathogens and comparison with conventional chemical wipes

Healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) represent a common complication for hospitalized patients and can produce significant financial implications for the health care system. Unfortunately, mobile and handheld devices are recognized as a hub for bacteria and viruses that can cause these infections. To aid in a remedy for this, ultraviolet light is an emerging technology that […]

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Improving Outcome by Optimizing Illumination (IOOI) Study

Insufficient and mistimed artificial lighting within the hospital environment can disrupt circadian rhythms, adversely affecting patients’ sleep, mood, and recovery. In collaboration with BC Hydro, we will run a study at the Burnaby Center for Mental Health and Addictions to test whether controlled 24-hour lighting with enhanced daytime brightness and restricted nocturnal light exposure can […]

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A Cloud-based eHealth System for Integrated Healthcare Data Management and Analysis

Healthcare organizations in British Columbia currently lack an eHealth system as a network of multiple data sources to manage EHRs in meaningful ways. To support clinician decision in operational needs, this project will investigate a cloud-based eHealth system to improve the scalability and interoperability of health information system. A data integration system and an online […]

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Establishing the Validity and Reliability of a Novel Wearable Physical Activity Monitoring System for Older Adults

Wearable physical activity monitors have become increasingly commonplace as commercial fitness products. However, current devices can be expensive and cannot accurately measure activity for older adults. Xerus, Inc. has recently built an affordable activity tracking system able to measure physical activity levels in older adults. However, the accuracy of Xerus activity tracking monitor has not […]

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Effective knowledge translation of evidence-based best practice for healthy lifestyle behaviours

The proposed research will support the effective knowledge translation of evidence-based best practice information related to healthy lifestyle behaviours (such as physical activity, healthy eating, smoking cessation, stress management, and alcohol moderation). Over a two-year period, the post-doctoral fellow will create a series of knowledge translation tools (including web- and smartphone-based applications) that can be […]

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