Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Publications Copyright (c) 2013 Western University All rights reserved. http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub Recent documents in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Publications en-us Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:22:19 PST 3600 An Exploration of the Burden Experienced by Spousal Caregivers of Individuals with Parkinson's Disease http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/4 http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/4 Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:45:04 PST Although previous research has attempted to identify the needs of caregivers for individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), most has focused on the demands associated with the physical needs of the patient, and not on "mental burden." This study used the repertory grid method to capture the full range of caregivers' subjective experience, quantify their perceptions, and to acquire information that might be useful in directing remediation attempts. Within this sample, caregivers reported far greater burden from "mental stress" (e.g., worrying about individual's safety) than from "physical stress" (e.g., lifting individual into bed). Specifically, caregivers were primarily concerned about spousal safety, as this requires continuous vigilance and constant worry. Caregivers also reported experiencing "little deaths" as the disease progresses, related to a loss of independence for the couple, and the steady diminishment of social networks. Increasing attention on the mental burden experienced by spousal caregivers promises to increase quality of care, and quality of life for individuals with PD, by improving quality of life for the caregiver.

]]> Kaitlyn P. Roland et al. Aged Caregivers Disability Evaluation Emotions Female Humans Male Middle Aged Ontario Parkinson Disease Quality of Life Questionnaires Safety Severity of Illness Index Social Isolation Stress, Psychological Dual Task Performance in a Healthy Young Adult Population: Results from a Symmetric Manipulation of Task Complexity and Articulation http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/3 http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/3 Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:52:11 PST The ability to execute and maintain gait while performing simultaneous cognitive, verbal, or motor tasks ('dual-tasking') is beneficial in many ways. It is well-documented, however, that dual-tasking can result in cognitive or motoric interference that results in diminished gait performance, and impaired secondary task performance. When manipulating cognitive load, it is common to have participants respond verbally to stimuli. While this is an ecologically valid way to measure the effects of cognitive load on gait, it ignores the additional demands inherent in the verbal aspect of the task. In the present study, we manipulated complexity and articulation within a single working memory task, in order to examine their relative impact on continuous spatiotemporal gait parameters. Fourteen healthy young adults (11 women) aged 18-30 (M=22.14, S.D.=2.28) were asked to memorize a random, non-repeating, sequence of three, five, or seven digits. Articulation was manipulated by either having participants rehearse the digits aloud, or rehearse the digits silently during the performance of the gait task. Gait parameters were quantified with a GAITRite instrumented carpet. Velocity, step time, swing time, and stance time demonstrated a significant (p<0.05) interaction between complexity and articulation, with articulation having a greater effect at higher levels of complexity. These results suggest that verbal secondary tasks may actually create a 'triple-task' in which the cognitive complexity of the task interacts with both the articulatory demands of the response modality, and the motoric demands of the gait task.

]]> Albert Armieri et al. Adolescent Adult Cognition Female Humans Male Motor Skills Space Perception Task Performance and Analysis Young Adult The Effects of Word Length, Articulation, Oral-motor Movement, and Lexicality on Gait: A Pilot Study http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/2 http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/2 Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:03:48 PST Previous research has suggested that articulatory demands are important predictors of the impact of dual-task interference on spatial-temporal parameters of gait. In this study, we evaluated the effects of word length, oral-motor movement, articulation, and lexicality, within a verbal task, on a continuous gait task. Fifteen healthy young women participated in a study in which two word lengths (monosyllabic and bisyllabic) were crossed with four levels of secondary task complexity (no dual-task, non-speech movement, spoken non-word, and spoken word). Spatial and temporal parameters of gait were measured using a 23' instrumented carpet. Results indicated a significant multivariate main effect for task type, F(15, 120)=3.07, that explained 71.1% of the demonstrated variability in gait. Univariate analyses of this main effect revealed statistically significant effects for velocity, step time, swing time, and stance time, but no statistically significant effect for step length. Post hoc analyses suggested that dual-task interference produced significant changes in the parameters of gait, but that this interference was not significantly greater with non-words as compared to the non-speech movement condition, nor was it significantly greater with words as compared to non-words. The results of this systematic deconstruction of a simple verbal task suggest that the motor component of a secondary speech task may produce the largest amount of interference within a dual-task interference paradigm.

]]> K. L. Davie et al. Riding the Knowledge Translation Roundabout: Lessons Learned from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Summer Institute in Knowledge Translation http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/1 http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/hrspub/1 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:45:38 PDT Background: Funding the education and training of the next generation of health researchers is a key mandate of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) knowledge translation (KT) portfolio. The field of KT is growing daily; thus, the training and development of a new generation of KT researchers is essential.

Methods: Using curriculum documents, participant evaluations, and self-reflection, this paper describes a unique Summer Institute hosted by the CIHR in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. We outline the key aspects of a successful training initiative that could inform organizations and agencies worldwide with an interest in or who have a mandate for KT.

Results: This work provides potential funders, faculty, and students with an inside look into the purpose, process, and outcomes of such training initiatives.

Conclusions: National and international KT organizations, research institutions, and funding agencies are encouraged to consider replicating the training model employed here, as investment into KT personnel will foster the advancement of the field within and beyond local borders.'To the individual who devotes his/her life to science, nothing can give more happiness than when the results immediately find practical application. There are not two sciences. There is science and the application of science, and these two are linked as the fruit is to the tree.' - Louis Pasteur, 1871 (from presentation by Ian Graham, 2008 CIHR Knowledge Translation Summer Institute).

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