Impact of a national dementia research consortium: The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA).

The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) was created by the Canadian federal government through its health research funding agency, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), in 2014, as a response to the G7 initiative to fight dementia. Two five-year funding cycles (2014-2019; 2019-2024) have occurred following peer review, and a third cycle (Phase 3) has just begun. A unique construct was mandated, consisting of 20 national teams in Phase I and 19 teams in Phase II (with research topics spanning from basic to clinical science to health resource systems) along with cross-cutting programs to support them.

Association Between Organizational Context and Resident Pain in Assisted Living: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: Resident pain has been a common quality challenge in congregate care for older adults, and organizational context may explain variations in resident pain beyond resident-level factors. Most studies have focused on nursing homes (NHs), largely neglecting assisted living (AL). AL residents are at similar risk for pain as NH resident, but with AL providing fewer services and staffing resources.

The legacy of Dr Marjory Warren's publications.

While the contributions of Dr Marjory W. Warren to geriatric medicine are widely acknowledged, their specifics have become obscured by the passage of time. The primary objective of this narrative review of her medical publications was to clarify the contributions she made for this field of medical practice.

Associations between specialized dementia care, COVID-19 and central nervous system medication use in assisted living: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study.

Background: Assisted living (AL) is an increasingly common residential setting for persons with dementia; yet concerns exist about sub-optimal care of this population in AL given its lower levels of staffing and services. Our objectives were to (i) examine associations between AL setting (dementia care vs. other), COVID-19 pandemic waves, and prevalent antipsychotic, antidepressant, anti-dementia, benzodiazepine, and anticonvulsant drug use among residents with dementia/cognitive impairment, and (ii) explore associations between resident and home characteristics and prevalent medication use.

Exploring the influence of weather variability and climate change on health outcomes in people living with dementia: A scoping review protocol.

Environmental factors resulting from climate change and air pollution are risk factors for many chronic conditions including dementia. Although research has shown the impacts of air pollution in terms of cognitive status, less is known about the association between climate change and specific health-related outcomes of older people living with dementia. In response, we outline a scoping review protocol to systematically review the published literature regarding the evidence of climate change, including temperature and weather variability, on health-related quality of life, morbidity, mobility, falls, the utilization of health resources, and mortality among older adults living with dementia.

Excess Deaths in Assisted Living and Nursing Homes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alberta, Canada.

Objectives: Assisted living (AL) is a significant and growing congregate care option for vulnerable older adults designed to reduce the use of nursing homes (NHs). However, work on excess mortality in congregate care during the COVID-19 pandemic has primarily focused on NHs with only a few US studies examining AL. The objective of this study was to assess excess mortality among AL and NH residents with and without dementia or significant cognitive impairment in Alberta, Canada, during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, relative to the 3 years before.

Comparing quality of care outcomes between assisted living and nursing homes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: While assisted living (AL) and nursing home (NHs) residents in share vulnerabilities, AL provides fewer staffing resources and services. Research has largely neglected AL, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study compared trends of practice-sensitive, risk-adjusted quality indicators between AL and NHs, and changes in these trends after the start of the pandemic.

Effect of a Continuous Bedside Pressure Mapping System for Reducing Interface Pressures: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Continuous bedside pressure mapping (CBPM) technology can assist in detecting skin areas with excessive interface pressure and inform efficient patient repositioning to prevent the development of pressure injuries (PI).

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of CBPM technology in reducing interface pressure and the incidence of PIs.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This parallel, 2-group randomized clinical trial was performed at a tertiary acute care center.

Pharmacists' knowledge, perceptions and practices regarding frailty: A cross-sectional survey across practice settings in Canada.

Background: Data on Canadian pharmacists' knowledge and perceptions about frailty in older adults and its assessment in pharmacy practice are scarce.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 349 Canadian pharmacists was conducted to evaluate pharmacists' knowledge, perceptions and practices regarding frailty. Descriptive analyses summarized responses by practice setting, and a multivariable logistic regression model examined associations between respondent characteristics and the likelihood of assessing frailty.

Why should clinical practitioners ask about their patients' concerns about falling?

Concerns (or 'fears') about falling (CaF) are common in older adults. As part of the 'World Falls Guidelines Working Group on Concerns about Falling', we recommended that clinicians working in falls prevention services should regularly assess CaF. Here, we expand upon these recommendations and argue that CaF can be both 'adaptive' and 'maladaptive' with respect to falls risk.

Caregiver Involvement and Concerns with Care of Residents of Assisted Living before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Family/friend caregivers play an essential role in promoting the physical and mental health of older adults in need of care - especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and especially in assisted living (AL) homes, where resident care needs are similarly complex as in long-term care homes but fewer staffing resources and services are available. However, little research is available on caregiver involvement and concerns with care of AL residents prior to and during waves 1 and 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study addressed this important knowledge gap.

Development and validation of a hospital frailty risk measure using Canadian clinical administrative data.

Background: Accessible measures specific to the Canadian context are needed to support health system planning for older adults living with frailty. We sought to develop and validate the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Hospital Frailty Risk Measure (HFRM).

Methods: Using CIHI administrative data, we conducted a retrospective cohort study involving patients aged 65 years and older who were discharged from Canadian hospitals from Apr.

Elicited clinician knowledge did not improve dementia risk prediction in individuals with mild cognitive impairment.

Objectives: This study aims to develop and validate a Bayesian risk prediction model that combines research cohort data with elicited expert knowledge to predict dementia progression in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Study Design And Setting: This is a prognostic risk prediction modeling study based on cohort data (Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative [ADNI]; n = 365) of research participants with MCI and elicited expert data. Bayesian Cox models were used to combine expert knowledge and ADNI data to predict dementia progression in people with MCI.

Exploring data reduction strategies in the analysis of continuous pressure imaging technology.

Background: Science is becoming increasingly data intensive as digital innovations bring new capacity for continuous data generation and storage. This progress also brings challenges, as many scientific initiatives are challenged by the shear volumes of data produced. Here we present a case study of a data intensive randomized clinical trial assessing the utility of continuous pressure imaging (CPI) for reducing pressure injuries.

The Brain Medicine Fellowship: A Competency-Based Training Program to Treat Complex Brain Disorders.

Problem: Complex brain disorders involve symptoms in the domains of affect, behavior, and cognition. It is increasingly recognized that there is a need for a novel type of physician who can treat individuals with these conditions in an interdisciplinary fashion to best address their complexity. Few training programs have focused on the education of such practitioners.

Coping Behaviors and Health Status during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Caregivers of Assisted Living Residents in Western Canada.

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of coping behaviors during the first 2 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic among caregivers of assisted living residents and variation in these behaviors by caregiver gender and mental health.

Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal survey.

Setting And Participants: Family/friend caregivers of assisted living residents in Alberta and British Columbia.