This study aims to explore the views of older adults and representatives from community-based seniors' service providers from across Alberta to examine the influence of social determinants, such as income, food insecurity, and/or ageist attitudes, on ageing well in place. More specifically, the focus prompt for this study is to identify what are participants' views about what social (lifestyle, eating habits, …), financial (the amount of money to which you have access and from where….) and environmental (where you live, transport, access to health services, …) things cause the greatest barrier to a person living his/her best life as he/she gets older in Alberta?

This study has two main purposes: 1. To test if our virtual falls risk assessment works on 3 groups of people (healthy participants, community-dwelling seniors, & seniors living in supported living facilities). 2. To develop an exercise-based program to reduce the risk of falls. To do this, we will complete a falls risk assessment on 25 healthy, 25 community-dwelling seniors, and 25 seniors in supported living facilities. We will use these results to develop several groups of falling risk. We will also develop an exercise program for the high-risk group. Participants in the high-risk group will then complete the exercise program for 3 months, after which we will re-assess their falling risk to see if there is a significant improvement.

We want to see how much leakage happens from the masks/respirators such as N95 to the areas around the wearer. We want to know the kind of air that comes out from the wearers (eg: air from nose, or mouth). We will do this by comparing the bacteria in their noses/saliva to the air collected around them. We also want to know how hard is it to wear these masks/N95. We will monitor this by by testing their heart rate, blood Oxygenation levels, and breathing patterns. Participants will attend two sessions in two different days, so that we can test different types of masks/respirators on them.

The purpose of this project is to offer insights into why, how, and what needs to be changed to increase access to mental health services for rural farming communities.

This study is to compare two treatments for atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter (both referred to as AF) after cardiac surgery. AF is the most common irregular heartbeat after surgery and is associated with increased risk of stroke, heart failure and hospitalization. Patients who have this heartbeat are also at higher risk of developing blood clots. This study is to determine which of two standard hospital treatments is safer for patients after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery. Antiplatelet or anticoagulants. Antiplatelet drugs (like aspirin) prevent clots from forming by stopping platelets (blood cell fragments) from clumping together where anticoagulants (like warfarin or apixaban) "thin" blood so it is less likely to clot.

ChatGPT can be used by patients and their families to answer questions about their diagnosis or management. However, it is not clear whether these responses are as accurate or comprehensive as information provided by physicians. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy, ease of understanding, comprehensiveness and relevance of responses provided by ChatGPT to commonly asked questions on dementia compared with the responses provided by specialist physicians to the same questions. A survey was created which asks participants to assess the accuracy, ease of understanding, comprehensiveness and relevance of each of the responses. 

Clostridioides difficile can cause diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever. It is most often caused by antibiotic use, which can kill many beneficial bacteria in the gut. The usual treatment is more antibiotics, which only helps in some cases. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) involves transferring stool from a healthy donor to a sick patient. It is used to correct the imbalance in gut bacteria from antibiotics and has been successfully used in patients where infection keeps coming back. This study will compare 2 treatments in patients who have C diff infection (CDI) for the first time within the previous 6 months (primary CDI): vancomycin for 10 days or vancomycin 5 days followed by freeze-dried FMT capsules.

Older men can experience accidental leaks of urine (urinary incontinence), which can negatively affect their physical health, emotional well-being, and financial standing. Sufferers may isolate themselves, avoid social engagements and sports activities, experience sex problems, become depressed, and need medical assistance or nursing care. Despite being common in older men, incontinence has received less attention than in older women.  We will assess healthcare providers' (HCPs') views on factors that can be self-managed and older men's opinions on how practical it is to make changes. Using our findings and input from a group of older men and HCPs, we will develop a tool to improve quality of life for older men with UI.

It is increasingly important to find clues to maintain cognitive function, including the precise form of memory known as episodic memory, throughout aging. Our focus is on the hippocampus, the vital brain region dealing with memory. In this study we use a combination of structural and functional neuroimaging methods, along with neuropsychological testing, genetic biomarkers, and longitudinal follow-up. The outcomes of this research could play a critical role in informing the development of individualized interventions to strengthen memory in older adults, particularly in those with an elevated risk of developing dementia.

We are embarking on a quality improvement project to help improve the care for patients living with adrenal insufficiency. A group of our endocrinologists have worked together with patients and human centred designers from the Alberta Physician Learning Program to create an education toolkit to help patients living with adrenal insufficiency manage their condition. We welcome any patients living with Adrenal Insufficiency to review our toolkit and fill out the survey.