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Unmasking The Silent Killer To Heart Health: An Evaluation Of Cardiometabolic Risk And Screening In Outpatient Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, Luxshmi Nageswaran

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Objective: 1) Determine the prevalence of cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk factors in Canadian outpatients with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D); and 2) Augment CMD screening practices to reflect evidence-based guidelines using quality improvement initiatives.

Design: Chart audit of consecutive outpatients with SCI/D assessed after discharge from Parkwood Institute between October 2020 to December 2021 (n=78). Data collected included presence of and evidence-based screening for 4 CMD risk factors – obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus. Definitions for presence of these 4 CMD risk factors were established using clinical practice guidelines for persons with SCI/D.

Results: All CMD risk …

Does Aerobic Intensity Level In Standard Physical Therapy Relate To Change In Walking Endurance In Patients With Stroke?, Yunyi Yan

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Aerobic exercise is critical in improving muscle strength, balance, and gait in stroke rehabilitation; higher dosage of exercise, in the form of increased physiotherapy(PT) duration, step counts, is associated with greater motor recovery. We sought to explore whether aerobic intensity level in one PT session is associated with the change in walking endurance; we hypothesized that higher levels of aerobic intensity, younger age, and being male would relate to greater improvement in walking endurance for individuals with stroke.

In this study, sixty-four individuals with stroke, aiming at improving walking performance, were recruited. Walking endurance was assessed by the Six-Minute Walk …

Exploring Leisure, Social Participation In Older Adults, Zahra Fatina

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Older adults often face challenges in meaningful occupations in their neighbourhoods, often tied to place-based barriers and changes including neighbourhood decline or gentrification. The objectives of this study are to draw on findings from an ethnographic study exploring older adults’ lives in their neighbourhoods, in order to contextually situate the diverse experiences of older adults as they engage in community occupations, focusing on social participation and leisure. We employed an ethnographic methodology with 38 older adults living in two neighbourhoods in a mid-sized Canadian city. Participants engaged in narrative interviews, photo elicitation interviews, go-along interviews, and activity-space mapping with follow-up …

Exploring The Environmental Factors That Shape The Experiences Of Risk For Older Adults, Bernice Chung

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

When a young adult wants to go mountain climbing, rarely do people think it is “too dangerous”. The same cannot be said for older adults. Although life frequently involves risk-taking, older adults are too often positioned as ‘at risk’ and therefore, in need of protection. The problem lies in the way risk is conceptualized as an individually located phenomenon. This narrow view negates the environmental factors that exist outside the control of older adults and that shape risk in older adulthood. I wanted to address this gap, so my research explored the environmental factors that shape experiences of risk for …