Not being able to control your bladder can be embarrassing
You’ve probably seen the ads: A row of women in nothing but their undies. Look closer and you realize they are wearing special panties – extra protection so they don’t leak urine in public. The market for such products is growing as the population ages. In fact, people’s preferences for “absorbent briefs” (no longer known…
Edmonton troupe finds a creative way to keep performing during pandemic
Carlean Fisher has been in love with the stage for as long as she can remember. As a young woman, pulling the curtains from backstage was enough to feel the rush, until years later when she got involved as a player with Edmonton’s Walterdale Theatre. “It’s an important part of who I am, ever since…Overactive bladder can distract from balance and stability
A team of University of Alberta researchers focused on aging Albertans has found that urinary incontinence could be a contributing factor in falls among older adults. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers showed for the first time that the feeling of having to pee acts as a distracting factor that increases the…
Palliative care is not about giving up hope
In the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the late bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley covered an old Appalachian folk song, Oh, Death. His Grammy-winning version included this haunting passage: “Oh, Death “Whoa, Death “Won’t you spare me over ’til another year?” This is how our society generally treats casual references to the inevitable passage…
Training modules, advisory group designed to help nurses, caregivers and others overcome biases against older people
A University of Alberta researcher is hoping to start a Canada-wide revolution to combat discrimination against older people, starting with a change to the way nursing students are educated. “Ageism has been described by other scholars as the last “ism” that is socially accepted,” said Sherry Dahlke, associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing. “It’s subtle and…
There has been a 73 per cent increase in calls to Alberta Poison and Drug Information Service in 2020
Our obsession with killing germs during the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unintended and dangerous consequence, according to the University of Alberta’s Injury Prevention Centre: a sharp increase in unintentional poisonings due to hand sanitizers, disinfectants and household cleaners. Calls to Alberta’s Poison and Drug Information Service (PADIS) related to these products have increased by 73 per cent…
Innovative, low-cost features that make it easier for homeowners to maintain their independence over the long term
What does a home look like for someone who wants to stay there as they grow older? It’s a question that a University of Alberta researcher and an Edmonton-based homebuilder are tackling through innovative design. Collaborating with Effect Home Builders and using evidence-based research, doctoral candidate Lara Pinchbeck is helping identify meaningful features that can help design forever…
So why is it so important?
A researcher at the University of Alberta is helping to bridge a gap in Canadians’ knowledge about palliative care – and how to plan ahead for it. In a 2016 IPSOS public poll, half of Canadians surveyed said they were unfamiliar with the terms “palliative care” and “advance care planning.” “As patients and families with…
Wastewater samples from manholes near long-term care facilities being tested to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2
University of Alberta medical scientists are teaming up with public health officials, Edmonton’s drainage utility company and other collaborators to develop an early warning system for COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes. On Jan. 4, EPCOR began taking twice-weekly wastewater samples from manholes located at 10 Edmonton long-term care facilities, which are then tested by U of…
We cannot blame COVID-19 alone for the current LTC crisis, writes Shawn Whatley
Nursing homes struggled long before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Canada. Now, during the second wave, many front-line clinicians say our long-term care (LTC) system has all but collapsed. In the pre-COVID era, patients waited a median of 159 days to get a bed in Ontario, with some areas at 263 days. Thus, it was…