Summer 2023 Research Update

Though the hallways of the Forrest building have been quiet with students on clinical placements, the School of Physiotherapy researchers remained busy planning, conducting, and sharing their research. Here are some of the highlights from their work.

Get to know our research faculty and their interests by viewing this compilation video. I think you'll be surprised at what you learn.

Video: Bruce Bottomley, Editing: Lil Crump, Interviewer: Caitlin McArthur

Theresa Gaughan (left) and Juliet Rowe (right) ramping up for another Mind: The Gap podcast.

What's is all about?

Mind: The Gap is a podcast dedicated to discovering the minds behind people bringing science to society. From challenges to opportunities, we uncover the impact of research on policy, community, and ultimately you. Hosted by Juliet Rowe, MScRR and Theresa Gaughan, PhD in Health (both supervised by Dr. Shaun Boe).

What is it's purpose?
The main focus of our podcast is to interview individuals who bring science into the community. These individuals may be grad students, professors, industry professionals, or university faculty (director of research, vice president of research, etc.). Through these interviews we learn about different research paths, challenges and opportunities, job descriptions, and advice these individuals have for future graduate students.

What type of themes does it cover?
Research impact; Graduate Student Experience; Academic Journey

What inspired it into being? I (Juliet Rowe, MSc Rehabilitation Research Candidate) have always been extremely talkative and creative. I wanted an artistic hobby that was both productive and entertaining. I first pitched Mind: The Gap as a mini lab podcast dedicated to disseminating our lab's research while also getting to know the people behind the Laboratory for Brain Recovery and Function. As the podcast grew, our focus shifted to research impact. It became apparent that all of our guests play an active role in creating micro impact in our community. We have been able to highlight the incredible work that individuals have done inside and out of the lab. We are beyond grateful to have met such beautiful, hardworking, and caring members of the Dalhousie community.

Links:
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Q9jS8bV5RMVcqcsGAu1DD?si=321b3b3776d84614
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-the-gap/id1673497014
- Twitter: @Mind_The_G_A_P

Visiting research student in the Joint Action Research (JAR) Lab 

Left: Marija at Peggy’s Cove  Right: Marija as a participant - wearing novel knee brace on dual belt instrumented treadmill in the JAR lab.

In October 2022, Marija Bakoc, a MASc student from the University of Guelph, traveled to the JAR lab in the School of Physiotherapy to work with Dr. Derek Rutherford. This work was supported by a student travel grant from the Canadian Society for Biomechanics. Marija’s supervisor at the University of Guelph is Dr. Scott Brandon, a collaborator of Dr. Rutherford. Marija’s research focuses on validating a new instrumented knee brace perturbation device that directly challenges the knee joint during gait. During her research exchange, she was able to bring the knee brace device from Guelph to Halifax and conduct a research study with 18 healthy volunteers. Dr. Rutherford and his graduate students showed Marija how to operate new equipment (e.g.,, GaitRiteTM, dual belt instrumented treadmill). She also participated in bi-weekly lab meetings and attended master’s defenses/proposals, which gave her insights into novel and ongoing research within the JAR lab. Marija got to interact with Dr. Janie Astephen Wilson and the Dynamics of Human Motion (DOHM) lab and see their novel markerless motion capture system.

Marija experienced east coast hospitality, visiting Peggy’s Cove three times during her stay!  

National and International Conference Presentations

New Publication!

Dalhousie School of Physiotherapy researchers, Drs. Adria Quigley, Marie Earl, and Caitlin McArthur published a new article in BMJ Open entitled: “Scoping review of methods for engaging long-term care residents with dementia in research and guideline development”.

Why is this study important? Patient and public engagement in research has become an essential component of health research and guideline development. Patient and public engagement is when people living with or who have experience with the condition or topic of interest are involved in the research team and help guide and inform the research project. Engagement requires careful planning to ensure it is done in an appropriate way and can be difficult to do when there are communication and comprehension challenges.

What did the study do? This scoping review summarized the literature that has described when long-term care residents with dementia have been engaged as part of the research team or in guideline development.

What did you find? Only 3 studies met their eligibility criteria. The main findings were that: 1) residents were engaged at the beginning of the research projects through interviews, focus groups, and consultations; 2) None of the included articles described the outcomes of engagement; 3) Barriers to engagement were predominantly at the resident level, including impaired verbal communication limiting resident’s abilities to participate in discussions, while increased time to support engagement was reported as a barrier at the resident and research team levels.

How will the results of this study be used? The results of this study will help researchers who wish to engage long-term care residents with dementia as part of their research team.

Read more about this work here: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/4/e067984.long