Thursday, November 26th 2009

By Lily Panamsky

The School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University is currently partnered with the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada to undergo two main projects to help people with dementia.

The first project, which is still awaiting funding, is an objective evaluation of technology that assists people with dementia. The information extracted from the evaluations would be sent to the Alzheimer’s Society for posting on their website.

Dr. Elizabeth Steggles, research coordinator at the School of Rehabilitation Science, explained the leading-up to the partnership, “What actually happened was in 2005 we were engaged in a project that evaluated locating technology for people at risk of wandering… And then the Alzheimer’s society called us because they had some questions about it, and just in the course of conversation it became apparent that we had some common interests. They were being asked for information about locating technology and we had done a study on locating technology.”

According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada’s website, dementia is a syndrome with symptoms such as loss of memory, judgement and reasoning, and changes in mood, behaviour and communication abilities. Alzheimer’s disease—the most common form of dementia—is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, which causes impairments in thinking processes and in memory.

Unfortunately, the project has not yet taken off due to lack of funding. Steggles admitted, “The traditional sort of research doesn’t fund things like that. It’ll fund the development of equipment but it won’t fund the evaluation of equipment.”

“One of the funds that we hope to be able to do is that we see that there are manufacturers out there who don’t necessarily have a good understanding of the needs of people with dementia, and we and the Alzheimer’s society can provide that insight.”

The School of Rehab Science and the Alzheimer’s Society would be able to provide good information for manufacturers, who would then be able to develop better products for the patients.

Currently, there is another project set to begin in January featuring Masters’ Occupational Therapy students at McMaster who will conduct literature reviews on the best ways to obtain information from people with dementia and consequently develop a needs assessment. The project will help to better understand people with dementia and provide increased safety within the community. There will be three students participating in the study as part of the evidence-based project that is compulsory in the Masters program.

Accessibly Yours, a venture of the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster, is responsible for the undertaking of the projects. It aims to enhance the cultural, institutional, social, and emotional environments at the university. Previous projects conducted by Accessibly Yours include Accessibility Audits to better integrate disability needs on campus, and barrier free guidelines for new buildings on campus, based on the Hamilton City guidelines.

Tags: alzheimer's society of canada, alzheimers, assessment, dementia, McMaster, McMaster University, occupational therapy, school of rehab science, wandering