The purpose of this study is to explore how Spiritual Health Practitioners (SHP) currently experience your own competent spiritual care practice in healthcare settings in Alberta. This information will help SHP’s, students and other important stakeholders better understand what competent spiritual care practice looks like from the perspective of someone who is presently engaged in the work.

Achondroplasia (ACH) is the most common form of skeletal abnormality. Currently, there is no agreement about the best way to treat ACH. Current treatment options, aimed at preventing or treating complications of ACH, may be painful and are not guaranteed to be effective. The purpose of this study is to collect data on the growth pattern of children with ACH.

The purpose of this study is to develop a group exercise program to support pelvic floor care for women living in rural remote areas of Alberta, who are experiencing urinary incontinence. Amendment: 2024-03-07 In addition to the exercise protocol, we aim to understand the demands for pelvic floor care in rural Alberta by conducting a needs assessment survey across all genders. Amendment: 2024-09-23 The purpose of this study is to assess the benefits of the exercise program developed in the pilot project between same and different age brackets.

Managing weight, extreme hunger and food seeking behaviours in people with genetic disorders of obesity. Current treatments including diet and exercise programs are generally not successful with these patients. Setmelanotide may help to re-establish weight and appetite control.

Patients with heart disease are often prescribed many medications and these patients may experience drug interactions or negative drug related side effects. With newer medications and treatments available, it is not well known whether older drugs, such as beta-blockers, are still an effective and safe option for treating heart disease. Some evidence suggests beta-blockers should be continued, whereas other evidence suggests beta-blockers might cause unnecessary harm. The study hopes to determine whether continuation or discontinuation of beta-blockers will affect long term cardiovascular outcomes. The study investigators will also examine how beta-blockers continuation or discontinuation affects several quality of life measures.

Some Canadians who identify as sexual and/or gender minorities (SGM)—such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender, and gender-diverse individuals—face barriers to health care and poorer outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened these challenges, especially for immunocompromised transplant patients. Clear, reliable information is critical, yet many report guidance from health authorities and providers is inconsistent or confusing. Our study will examine how transplant programs collect and use SGM data, engage SGM transplant patients about their experiences, and partner with SGM health groups. This work will help reduce inequities and improve care for SGM transplant patients.

This research study is testing a study vaccine (mRNA-1647) that is being developed for preventing cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. CMV is a common virus that can spread easily through an infected person’s saliva, blood, urine and breast milk. It is unusual for a CMV infection in a healthy person to cause illness and when it does symptoms are relatively mild. However, if a pregnant woman has a CMV infection, it may be passed to her unborn child. Children born with CMV can suffer long-term disability due to birth defects, including hearing loss or even death in very severe cases. CMV is the leading cause of birth defects around the world. There is currently no approved vaccine to prevent CMV infection.

Adults with idiopathic scoliosis have a reported prevalence of about 2-11%. Some patients experience self-image, function and pain issues which may be amenable to treatment using specific exercises as was recently shown. With our ageing population we also observe a growing number of adults with de novo degenerative scoliosis. This is a spinal misalignment due to spine degeneration. The objective of this study is to compare samples of patients with adults degenerative scoliosis, adult idiopathic scoliosis to matched healthy controls (for age, height and weight). Participants will complete questionnaires and a physical exam to identify which limitations they present that may be amenable to treatment with physical therapy.

Approximately 36,000 Canadians and 400,000 Americans undergo heart surgery every year. Many of these individuals will be on blood thinners after surgery to prevent strokes from due to pre-existing atrial fibrillation (AF) or a newly diagnosed AF. The purpose of this study is to establish whether direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) (ex: Rivaroxaban, Apixaban, etc.) are as safe as vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) (ex: Warfarin) in the first 90 days after heart surgery. The results of this study will impact the treatment of hundreds of thousands of patients in the world every year.

Children diagnosed with arthritis often experience common symptoms like pain, redness, warmth and swelling of the joints. These symptoms can be debilitating and challenge the lives of children that are affected as well as affect their families. It is very important to be able to diagnose these conditions quickly and to provide effective treatments in order to prevent further damage to the joints and affected areas. In order to achieve this, we must understand the underlying causes of these conditions, which are yet to be discovered. The overall goal of our study is to address this gap in treatment approaches as well as support and advance personalized care for all children with juvenile arthritis.