What is this Study about?

In collaboration with our South Asian community collaborators, our goal is to gain an in-depth understanding of new immigrant, multigenerational, South Asian family caregiving for a relative with dementia amidst COVID-19. The goal is to inform future family-centered, healthcare interventions aimed at supporting equity deserving families during times of crisis.

To achieve our goal, we are starting to recruit family care partners living in a multigenerational home and caring for a relative with dementia from each of the four groups of South Asian families. We will be using a multiple case study to examine new immigrant, multigenerational caregiving for a relative with dementia from the perspective of four groups of South Asian families; 1) Pakistani, 2) Bangladeshi, 3) Indian, and 4) Sri Lankan. We will also be using secondary data sources, including genograms, ecoMaps, and key documents.

We will be conducting interviews with a family care partners from each of the four groups. Following these interviews, we will hold four focus groups with a new purposeful sample of South Asian multigenerational care partners to understand if the findings from the interviews reflect their caregiving experiences thereby increasing the reliability of the study findings.

What is this Study about?

Seeking individuals with mild, early-stage dementia ages 65+ to explore how they access daily information like weather forecasts and newspapers. The study aims to improve information accessibility for the dementia community. Participation involves a 60-90 minute session (in-person or via Zoom with caregiver) observing information access behaviors. Findings will guide strategies for making information more comprehensible and accessible. Participants will receive $50 for their time. This study is approved by York University’s ethics committee (#2024-176). For details, contact Dr. Somang Nam at [email protected].

What is this Study about?

We are interested in how the brain changes in aging and with dementia. With this study, we will investigate how the brain senses and interprets sights and sounds. We are particularly interested in how listening to music, especially familiar music, evokes emotions and activates vivid memories. Learning how the brain processes music will help us understand why music therapy is such an effective tool for those with Alzheimer’s. We also aim to understand how the brain combines sights and sounds. This is an important part of how we navigate complex everyday situations, such as walking down a busy street. Alzheimer’s disease interferes with the brain’s ability to combine information from different senses, which could cause challenges in daily living.

What is this Study about?

The aim of this study is to develop a large, ethically sourced, and diverse database of voice recordings to determine whether voice has biomarkers for particular disease categories, including neurological and neurodegenerative conditions. The data that is collected will be used to develop a full open-access database to fuel artificial intelligence research related to voice.

What is this Study about?

This study examines how people with dementia or MCI perform household tasks, focusing on when they seek support, and which prompts help them complete tasks. The findings will help develop technologies to assist them in completing tasks more independently and safely.

What is this Study about?

Focus groups will discuss lived experiences making decisions about end of life nutrition care with residents living in long-term care to explore strengths or gaps in care that can be leveraged or addressed. Focus group discussions will be used to co-produce resources to support residents and family members with end of life nutrition care decision making (e.g., clinical pathways, decision-trees, patient and family education tools, etc).

What is this Study about?

This study will uncover how bilingualism supports healthy cognitive aging by examining the influence of different language experiences on the timing and location of brain network activity. We will examine the timing of brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG; i.e., recordings of electrical brain activity) and the location of brain activity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; i.e., images of activity in different parts of the brain). Different language experience factors will additionally be explored. By measuring multiple factors (e.g., the age of second language learning, language proficiency) the effect(s) of different language experiences on the brain and cognition will become clearer.

What is this Study about?

In this study we aim to explore the motivations and impacts of disclosure a personal diagnosis of dementia or being a care partner on social media. The overall goal of the study is to develop an evidence-based resource to promote benefits of social media for the dementia community while minimizing its harms.

What is this Study about?

Early detection of brain changes is crucial to prevent cognitive decline and dementia. This study uses electroencephalography (EEG) to record the brain's electrical signals during simple tasks, with the hope of validating a measure that can improve early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

We are recruiting 150 individuals with mild memory issues and mild dementia at Baycrest in Toronto and Bruyère in Ottawa. In a separate study we are also recruiting older adults with no memory problems. The results of both studies together will help us determine if our new EEG measure can detect abnormal changes in brain health early on and if it can help predict future cognitive changes. We hope that this new test will be used in the clinic to identify individuals who may benefit the most from early treatment and interventions.