News
It has been a busy (and great!) season of research presentations for our lab.
In early April, MSc student Sarra earned a spot in SFU’s 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) finals and did the lab proud with an engaging and polished presentation.
Later in the month she presented a poster on her thesis research at the annual INCREASE BC (Interdisciplinary Conference in Rehabilitation Science BC) conference and had fun learning about a lot of fantastic rehabilitation-oriented research going on in the province.
The APHL had four presentations at the Department’s annual BPK Research Day in April.
Peter delivered an outstanding oral presentation about the health benefits that older adults hope to gain from their physical activity participation.
He also presented a poster that described preliminary results from an online survey of Kinesiologists, Physiotherapists, and General Practitioners to better understand what health outcomes these health care professionals hope their older adult patients will achieve from participation in physical activity. Peter’s poster won 2nd place in the PhD student poster competition!
Sarra presented a poster that outlined the protocol for an online survey study which seeks to building consensus around the outcomes that are essential to measure in clinical trials of physical activity programs for older adults. Sarra’s poster won 3rd place in the MSc poster competition!
Dawn delivered an oral presentation that provided an overview of the lab’s efforts toward standardizing outcome selection in older adult physical activity clinical trials.
Great job showcasing your interesting and important research Peter and Sarra, and congrats on your poster awards!
Many thanks to all those who helped to organize a fantastic event that showcased the amazing breadth and depth of BPK research.
To celebrate Brain Awareness Week in March, the SFU Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology hosted an open house event ‘Resilience of the Aging Brain’ where they showcased brain health and aging research happening at SFU.
The APHL was delighted to be invited and very much enjoyed participating in this community-focused event, hosted on the SFU Surrey campus.
Dr. Brianne Kent and team did an excellent job organizing this well-attended open house that highlighted research from many SFU Departments and Faculties.
When it comes to physical activity and health, what really matters to older adults?
For years, high-quality randomized controlled trials have demonstrated a variety of health benefits from physical activity for older adults, but too little attention has been given to ensuring such trials measure outcomes that are relevant to older adults. APHL PhD student Peter Young set out to address that gap.
Peter conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 older adults ranging from 67 to 95 years of age to explore what older adults hope to gain from participating in physical activity.
We learned that older adults desire a diverse set of outcomes from their physical activity, spanning physical, clinical, psychological, social, and overarching domains.
Some of the outcomes that are important to older adults are quite specific, such as improved balance confidence, greater leg strength, and a reason to get up in the morning. These types of specific outcomes usually contributed to broader holistic goals that older adults held for maintaining independence and quality of life.
“Quality of life improvements seem to be the root of all outcomes,” commented first author Peter Young.
Physical activity appears to be a vehicle through which older adults express autonomy, feel a sense of control and confidence, and empower themselves to ride the waves of their aging processes, which together contribute to quality of life.
Interestingly, older adults often expressed a reserved outlook about body-related outcomes, hoping that physical activity would help them maintain their current status or limit decline. In contrast, they had a much more ambitious set of desires for mentally-perceived outcomes, hoping that physical activity would improve their social connectedness and overall mental well-being above their current status.
The study has important implications for how research teams design physical activity trials.
“Some of the outcomes of physical activity that are important to older adults, namely social and psychological outcomes, are not commonly measured in randomized controlled trials. There is a distinct opportunity and need for more patient-relevant outcomes in future trials,” said Dr. Mackey.
Read the full article here.
Funding for this project was provided by the Drummond Foundation.
References
Young PJ, Wallsworth C, Gosal H, Mackey DC. "Now I Am Walking Toward Health": A Qualitative Study About the Outcomes of Physical Activity Participation That Matter to Older Adults. J Aging Phys Act. Published online May 15, 2024. doi:10.1123/japa.2023-0290 PubMed ID
The APHL enjoyed attending the Department’s annual BPK Research Day in April, and our trainees delivered terrific presentations.
Peter (right) presented an innovative poster that described lessons he learned from collaborating with patient partners on a qualitative research study about older adult physical activity.
Sarra (below) presented a poster about how to design gender-sensitized health promotion programs for men. This was work she completed during her semester as an undergraduate student research award (USRA) holder.
Sarra also delivered an outstanding 3 minute-thesis presentation about her upcoming master’s research, which seeks to building consensus around the outcomes that are essential to measure in clinical trials of physical activity programs for older adults.
Great job showcasing your interesting and important research Peter and Sarra!
By: Peter Young, MSc student
To me, the heart of science doesn’t exist in a test tube, a spreadsheet, or in 11 pt. Times New Roman. I believe science exists between people as they share and awaken their passions and curiosities. Perhaps then, there was no better place to find gerontological science alive than in Regina for the Canadian Association on Gerontology’s 2022 conference. Here, I had the pleasure to check the pulse of the field and reflect on some popular themes that are garnering attention.
The first theme, and conference title, involved knowledge translation and “Closing the Research-Practice Gap”. Dr. Moriah Ellen, opened the conference on this note, acknowledging that we often have a surplus of knowledge but a lack of action. She continued by imploring that we must “get research into the hands of those that need it”. This sentiment echoed throughout the conference with presenters offering different approaches, strategies, and opportunities to make scientific findings more impactful in practice.
One strategy for closing the research-practice gap, and the second theme from the conference, was the utilization of technology. Technology can be an infinitely powerful tool in knowledge translation especially as it progressively integrates itself into day-to-day functions. Dr. Kim Delbaere’s keynote presentation introduced her application “StandingTall”, which can help assess the risk of falls and prescribe exercises to mitigate them. This project empathetically encapsulates the idea of bringing knowledge to the end beneficiary with the ease and efficiency of technology.
A third and final theme which resonated throughout the conference involved how to best understand and support the altruistic actions of caregivers. One study, presented by Jennifer Swindle, explored how family caregivers “build a new life” after their family member is admitted to LTC. This group further discussed that caregivers were facilitated in their new path by the support of others, inclusion in care decisions, and connecting with resources. One prevalent resource for such caregivers was “My Tools 4 Care - In Care”, an online interface with resources, suggestions, and important contact information for caregivers.
In sum, CAG 2022, and the wealth and diversity of knowledge that it featured, left me optimistic for the future of research in our field. I look forward to following the development of gerontology, and hopefully returning next year.
APHL MSc trainee Peter attended the 2022 meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) in Regina, Sask.
He presented a poster from his MSc thesis research entitled, “I believe…in being proactive”: A qualitative exploration into what outcomes older adults prioritize for the future of physical activity research.”
Great job showcasing your important work Peter!
By: Peter Young, MSc student
I joined the APHL in September and had the pleasure of attending the 2021 Canadian Association on Gerontology conference. What follows are my key takeaways from a couple of sessions I attended.
One common theme from the conference, and one near and dear to my heart, was the importance of exercise for older populations. Researcher Dr. Marie-Josée Sirois presented data illuminating the importance of physical activity in older adults after hospitalization. The time older adults spent immobilized increased by ~12 hours/day upon admittance to the hospital or emergency department. This mandated “bed rest” proves counterproductive to recovery, as older adult patients experience loss of muscle mass and strength, especially during longer hospital stays. Older adults become frailer in the hospital and have an increased risk of falls and readmission when discharged. This vicious cycle continues to turn, with older adults losing independence and quality of life along the way.
Dr. Sirois and colleagues presented how exercise early after hospital discharge can intervene in this vicious cycle. Their results showed the efficacy of performing 1 hour of physical activity (focus on strength, balance, and aerobic conditioning) 3 times a week in reducing the declines in function and mobility of older adults. Interestingly, medical professionals were found to be slow to adopt exercise prescriptions, likely due to fear of perceived danger. With that said, even unsupervised/at-home exercise was shown to be safe and mitigate the risk of falls. Physical activity will not be possible for all older adults who are discharged from the hospital. Still, for those who have the capacity, exercise may prove to be a vital treatment for recovery and to mitigate mobility loss.
Another theme that emerged from many presentations was empowering the autonomy of older adults within research. Involving “older adult community partners” recognizes their valuable knowledge and has numerous benefits:
Older adult community partners experience feelings of empowerment, autonomy, and purpose as they contribute to research development.
Older adults contain the essential knowledge acquired through experience that can guide research in ensuring its relevance.
By co-creating knowledge with older adults, they can become spokespeople to share the findings of the research.
I will leave you with a compelling statement provided by Dr. Janna Klostermann who encourages researchers to “ask beautiful questions”. Within the research context, Janna refers to questions that inspire wonderment and creativity within interviews with older adults. This can break away from the often sterile environment created by science and make the act of co-creating knowledge one of joy. Thus, I encourage you to think about how you can ask beautiful questions. Perhaps we can implement beautiful questions in our own lives to invigorate conversations and interactions with those around us.
By: Alex Ciok, NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award holder
Dr. Mackey recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Jen Heemstra for the BPK Dialogue Series. Dr. Heemstra is a Professor of Chemistry at Emory University, and she is passionate and informed about academic mentorship and leadership.
Whether you’re considering pursuing a career in research, or simply dipping your toes in the field, Dr. Heemstra had some great advice for trainees.
“You just need to experiment and find what works for you” - Dr. Heemstra
Research teams are always on the search for individuals with bold goals and the desire to grow. The ability to accept feedback is a universally sought-after trait, and paired with strong, healthy work habits, will make you a competitive candidate in any field.
“Help me help you” - Dr. Heemstra
Failures are bound to happen, and the field of research is no stranger to this rule. A healthy relationship with your team and mentor(s) will help facilitate healthy ways of coping when things inevitably go awry. As Dr. Heemstra neatly put it, ”when someone fails or makes a big mistake, they are already at an incredibly low point (...) our job [as mentors] at that moment is to reward failure.”
“Every time you have a new way to fail” - Dr. Heemstra
The ability to persevere through challenges, also known as grit, is often advertised as a desirable trait. The truth is that some challenges (liked failed experiments) are “good” and help us to grow, while others (like non-inclusive cultures) are “bad.” It is a mentor’s job to support mentees to work through these “good” challenges, while helping mitigate the “bad” challenges.
”There’s no such thing as a perfect mentor” - Dr. Heemstra
Dr. Heemstra highlighted that the foundations of research are built on core values of teamwork, inclusion, intellectual curiosity, and the mutual desire for growth and support. She also underlined the crucial role that mentorship plays within the research community for growth and support for both the mentee and mentor.
If you are seeking a challenging and rewarding opportunity that will test your problem solving and reasoning skills on a daily basis, why not consider research?
Follow Dr. Heemstra on Twitter @jenheemstra
By: Angela Wong, SFU VPR Undergraduate Student Research Award holder
Dr. Mackey recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Jen Heemstra for the BPK Dialogue Series. Dr. Heemstra is a Professor of Chemistry at Emory University, and she is passionate and informed about academic mentorship and leadership.
Supervisors take note:
Self-leadership is what a leader would do for a group but done for yourself. You can’t lead other people well if you don’t lead yourself well. So, go ahead, cast a vision, set some goals, manage how you execute goals, monitor yourself to stay accountable, and navigate through setbacks!
Good mentoring by coaching is an essential part of the job. The role of a mentor is not to find the answers for somebody, but rather to help them find the answers for themselves
Failure is inevitable. When failure is experienced by a mentee, it is a mentor’s job to provide support and even reward failure sometimes, such as when a mentee fails in an outstanding ‘I learned something’ way
Imposter syndrome can arise from your external surroundings and your innate self-doubt. An evidence-based approach to deal with this is to recognize the distorted thought patterns you may have and reframe them in a positive light
Follow Dr. Heemstra on Twitter @jenheemstra
