What is this Study about?

The Self-Cueing Study aims to understand how people living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment use strategies, or “self-cues,” while completing everyday activities. Researchers aim to identify when these strategies are successful, why they may be unsuccessful, and where additional support could be helpful. Participants will complete three tasks: making a hot drink, folding laundry, and making a bed. Information collected during these tasks, including video and audio recordings, will help us understand how people cue themselves through different activities. This will allow us to develop self-cueing supports to help people with dementia and MCI maintain independence during everyday activities.

What is this Study about?

This study investigates whether creating simple sketches while studying words enhances memory more than writing the words alone. It compares this benefit among young adults, healthy older adults, and adults over 60 with hand-related motor impairments such as arthritis, Parkinsonian symptoms, limb-kinetic apraxia, or ideomotor apraxia. The findings will help distinguish how motor execution and motor planning contribute to memory enhancement.

What is this Study about?

You are invited to participate in a study examining how a social robot can be used as a training and support tool to help dementia caregivers connect with and support multiple residents living with dementia. A supporting mobile app has been developed through co-design sessions with dementia caregivers. We are seeking caregivers’ insights into their needs and expectations for this social robotic support system.

Information collected will be anonymized, stored securely in our repository, and disposed of when it is no longer needed.

What is this Study about?

Apathy, or reduced interest, initiative and emotion, is common in people living with Alzheimer’s disease and can affect quality of life and functioning. This study will test whether combining methylphenidate, an oral medication, with intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), a non-invasive brain stimulation treatment, is more effective than iTBS alone for treating apathy in dementia. Information collected will help determine whether this combined approach may improve apathy and quality of life for people living with dementia and their care partners.

What is this Study about?

This study aims to understand dementia caregivers' experiences, challenges, and training needs to help guide the development of a social robotic training system. The proposed system is envisioned to use role-playing scenarios based on the emotional behaviours and past identities of people living with dementia. A supporting mobile application is also being developed to work with the robot's training features. Caregivers' perspectives will help identify their needs and expectations for this social robotic training system.  

What is this Study about?

This study aims to explore the hospitalization experiences of South Asian and Arab older adults with dementia and identify barriers and facilitators they encounter during their hospital stay in receiving culturally safe care. The information gathered will be used to identify gaps in current hospital dementia care practices and create resources and recommendations for policy and practice changes that promote culturally safe, inclusive dementia care for ethnic communities.

What is this Study about?

This research study explores the experiences of older men who provide care for a spouse or partner. This study is being conducted by researchers from the Men’s Health Research program, led by Principal Investigator Dr. John Oliffe, Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Men’s Health Promotion, School of Nursing, at the University of British Columbia.

What is this Study about?

We are currently recruiting people living with dementia and their caregivers (i.e., family members, friends, or formal care providers such as nurses and social workers) for a study examining experiences with time among people living with dementia. The ultimate objective of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the experience of time among people with dementia, including how they feel about the past, present, and future, and how this time-related experience affects their caregivers’ daily life and wellbeing. Data from this study may be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic conferences.

What is this Study about?

Despite the clinical benefit and favourable safety profile of using focused ultrasound to manage tremor caused by Parkinson’s Disease, there is currently limited gender and cultural diversity among the patients we treat. We will use questionnaires and patient-led discussions to identify factors that prevent (i) women and (ii) a broader range of races and ethnicities from considering focused ultrasound to manage tremor.