Participate

Are you interested in participating in health research in BC, but don’t know how to get involved? REACH BC connects volunteer participants with researchers in the province who are conducting clinical trials or other studies focused on health-related issues. Through the confidential and secure REACH BC platform, interested individuals are asked to provide information about themselves, their research interests, any health conditions they may have, and their contact information. Once registered, they will be sent information about potential research opportunities. Volunteers can then connect with research teams to ask any questions they may have about a research study and to let researchers know if they’re interested in participating. For more information on health research studies currently underway in BC, go to https://www.reachbc.ca/studies. For more information on becoming a volunteer for health research in BC through REACH BC, go to https://www.reachbc.ca/volunteers

 

See the brochure here.

In collaboration with colleagues at the University of Victoria and UBC, IALH Research Fellow Mariko Sakamoto (Nursing) is conducting a project entitled Dementia Friendly Communities: Including the Perspectives and Experiences of People with Dementia Who Live Alone. This is a community-based action research project which will engage directly with people with dementia who live alone. The goals of the project are to: a) develop an in-depth understanding of the community-related needs of people with dementia who live alone; and b) explain and demonstrate how communities can be dementia friendly and support the social inclusion and well being of individuals with dementia living alone. For more information or to participate, contact Dr. Sakamoto at msakamoto@uvic.ca or by phone at 604-727-6099.

Dr. Tarek Amer and Dr. Jordana Wynn are Assistant Professors at the University of Victoria and IALH Research Fellows. They are conducting a study entitled Object Visual Attention Study to understand how attention guides our visual system to process everyday objects.

What does participation in this study involve?

Participants will be asked to look at various pictures of objects on a computer screen and make judgements about them while their eye movements are recorded using a remote eyetracking system.

Participation requires 2 to 2.5 hours of time. Participants will be compensated $30.00 plus transit costs.

Eligible participants must: 

• Be 65 years of age or older
• Speak English fluently
• Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision (no bifocal lenses)
• Have no severe visual impairments (i.e., a prescription of +/- 5.00 or higher)
• Have no history of psychiatric or neurological disorder or head injury

For more information, or to participate, please contact uvic.mva.lab@gmail.com or 250-472-5014. 

See the study flyer.

IALH Research Fellow Lorelei Newton (Nursing) is looking for individuals 70 years of age and older who have completed cancer treatment within the past 3 to 8 years. Study participants will be asked to complete a survey regarding their experiences accessing digital health information. In recognition of their time, participants can choose to enter a draw for up to two $50 gift cards. To participate in the survey, go to https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/R5SV8HW.

For more information regarding the study, contact Dr. Newton via email at lorelei@uvic.ca or by phone at (250) 721-6462.

See the study flyer.

Dr. Christine Ou is an Assistant Professor in Nursing and an IALH Research Fellow. She is conducting a Parent-Infant Sleep Ecology study with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Laine Halpern-Zisman about nighttime parenting and parent-infant sleep in the family unit. This study is for all family structures (e.g., adoptive and biological parents who may be in single-parent families, parent-couples, multi-parent families, LGBTQ+ parents, parents who are co-parenting and live in different households).

Participants Selection
You may be eligible to participate if you:

• Are an adoptive or biological parent
• Have a 6 to 18 month old singleton infant
• Your infant is healthy

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/babyparentsleep or contact Research Assistant Caryn Dooner RN, MSc at cdooner@uvic.ca or Principal Investigator Dr. Christine Ou at christineou@uvic.ca.

To participate, visit https://bit.ly/babyparentsleep.  

Approximately 13.6% of Canadians 20 years of age and older live with osteoarthritis. Arthritis in lower extremities, particularly osteoarthritis, can cause pain, stiffness and weakness which can change the way people walk (also referred to as gait). Gait disorders caused by arthritis, such as limps or shuffling, can cause strain and pain in other joints and weakness in muscles around the hip and knee can affect balance. This, in turn, can increase the risk of injuries and falls and reduce mobility and quality of life.

IALH Research Fellow Marianne Black (Mechanical Engineering), and a team of undergraduate students in a 4th year biomedical engineering class are looking for individuals 50 years of age and older with knee pain (patient advisors) to assist them in designing a wearable foot sensor that can correct for gait disorders. It is anticipated that the sensor will be capable of detecting abnormal gait patterns and providing real-time feedback to correct them. Patient advisors will be asked to provide some user-centered design feedback through two surveys. The first survey will contain questions to inform initial project design. The second will seek opinions on the prototype design. Each survey will take approximately 30 to 60 minutes to complete. For more information or to participate, contact Dr. Black at marianneblack@uvic.ca or by phone at
250-853-3177.

Are you over 18 with social ties to someone who is over 60? IALH Postdoctoral Fellow Nathan Lewis is seeking participants for a study entitled Allies in Health Study, which he is conducting with colleagues from University of British Columbia. The aim of the study is to understand how social support plays a role in the everyday life of older adults from all backrounds. 

Researchers in this study are looking for individuals aged 60+ to participate with a study partner (e.g., family member, friend, neighbour) who is aged 18+. The researchers are especially interested in having participants from all cultural, ethnic and social/economic backgrounds.

What is required to participate?

Participants will be asked to attend two (2) meetings via Zoom, complete short questionnaires, and wear a physical activity monitor for 10 days. Some participants may opt to participate in an additional blood draw at LifeLabs. 

For more information on this study, please contact allies@psych.ubc.ca or 604-822-3549.

Maybins Lengwe is a doctoral student in Computer Science and IALH Student Affiliate and is recruiting participants for a study exploring the usability of calendars for managing prescriptions. To be eligible, particpants must be:

• be between 19 and 65 years of age;
• either taking medications alongside a busy schedule or aiding someone in managing medications; and 
• comfortable working with a digital calendar

Participants will be asked to join a remote study session on Zoom (via laptop/desktop computer or large-screen tablet). This session will be centered around the process of being able to manage prescriptions using a digital calendar. Particpants will be presented with a calendar that reflects an individual's schedule with multiple activities and one or more medication schedules. You will be asked to read, add, edit, and delete entries in a calendar.

The study session will last about 1 hour, and participants will be rewarded with a CAD $20 Amazon gift card.

This study is taking place under the supervision of Dr. Jens Weber and IALH Research Fellow Dr. Charles Perin. This research has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Board at the University of Victoria.

For more information, please contact mlengwe@uvic.ca  

Yichun Zhao is a graduate student working with IALH Research Fellow Sowmya Somanath (Computer
Science) and Associate Professor Miguel Nacenta (Computer Science). Together, they are conducting
research to evaluate an interactive system designed to improve diagram accessibility for people with vision loss.

To be eligible, individuals must:

• Consider themselves to be blind, visually impaired, or partially sighted;
• Rely on the auditory channel, or auditory combined with other sensory channels to access information from a computer;
• Have experience using touch-screen devices;
• Be older than 18 years of age;
• Reside in Victoria, Vancouver, Fraser Valley, or Kelowna BC, Canada.

 

More information can be found at https://chunthebear.github.io/diagram-accessibility-user-study-recruitment/. 

CanAssist at the University of Victoria is dedicated to helping people with disabilities improve their quality of life, with a focus on promoting independence and inclusion. CanAssist often requires people to test new technology prototypes and provide feedback on their effectiveness. This testing is done on a voluntary basis and there is no cost. In most cases, families testing a technology can continue to use the solution for as long as it continues to be useful.

For technology testing opportunities, please visit the CanAssist website.