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LONDON, ON – A first-of-its-kind study led by Lawson Health Research Institute is receiving $1.2 million in funding from the federal government, delivered through the Veteran Homelessness Program, to better understand homelessness amongst women in Canada who are military Veterans.

“This is an important and yet often invisible problem,” says Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Lawson Assistant Scientific Director based at St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s Parkwood Institute and the study lead. “This is the first Canadian study to focus exclusively on women Veterans’ experience of homelessness. Gender matters, especially when we’re talking about female Veterans who are homeless. If they’ve experienced sexual trauma or abuse or have children, and the only Veteran housing available is a group setting for men, that will be an issue.”

Dr. Forchuk and her team have begun travelling to cities and towns across Canada to conduct interviews with female Veterans experiencing homelessness or who have previously experienced homelessness. They will gather data such as demographics, history of housing and homelessness, and services accessed. The team will also host focus groups with homeless- and Veteran-serving agency staff. The locations have been selected in partnership with The Royal Canadian Legion and other Veteran-serving groups, focusing on areas with pockets of female Veterans experiencing homelessness. 

“We will also explore the pathways and experiences of homelessness, what barriers are faced, what has been helpful and what future services should focus on,” adds Dr. Forchuk.

“This study is a vital step towards addressing the unique challenges faced by female Veterans experiencing homelessness,” says Peter Fragiskatos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for London North Centre on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities. “By investing in research like this, we are making significant progress in understanding and improving the support systems for this population, contributing to the federal government's efforts to end homelessness among Veterans.”

“This significant investment reflects our dedication to addressing the issue of homelessness among female Veterans,” says Arielle Kayabaga, Member of Parliament for London West. “By supporting this pioneering study, we aim to uncover the specific barriers they face and develop targeted solutions that honour their service and ensure they receive the support they deserve.”

The goal of the four-year study is to ensure there is accurate data to inform gender-specific interventions and guidelines for policy, practice and care of female Veterans. Canadian Armed Forces Veterans make up a disproportionate percentage of those experiencing homelessness according to a 2018 report.

“It is clear that the circumstances surrounding this particular subset of our Veteran population are not well enough understood,” says Carolyn Hughes, Director of Veterans Services with The Royal Canadian Legion. “It is our hope that this project will help fill in some of those blanks and at the same time, further enlighten all of us who serve Veterans, so that we may provide even more timely and focused assistance when and where it’s needed most.”

St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute has an embedded legacy of Veterans’ care, having originally been a Veterans’ hospital and now hosting a Veterans’ inpatient centre, the Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic, as well as the MacDonald Franklin OSI Research and Innovation Centre. The research centre is recognized as Canada’s leader in mental health research dedicated to enhancing the lives and wellbeing of military personnel, Veterans and their families. The directors of the centre are co-investigators on the study.

For more information, please contact:    
Debora (Flaherty) Van Brenk 
Communication Consultant
St. Joseph’s Health Care London
C: 226-577-1429 or 519-318-0657
T: 519-646-6100 ext. 42534
@email

LONDON, ON – A beneficial and cost-effective approach to mental health care that supports people as they go from hospital and back into the community is outlined in a new resource and has been recognized internationally by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

“The immediate period after discharge from hospital, usually the first month, can be one of the most vulnerable times in the life of someone experiencing a mental illness. It can be when they are most at risk of committing suicide,” explains Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Assistant Scientific Director at Lawson Health Research Institute. “However, what we’ve seen is that there’s often a gap between when someone says ‘goodbye’ to the hospital inpatient unit and ‘hello’ to the community care provider.” 

Today during a virtual book launch, a research team from Lawson and several community organizations discussed details of a new publication from Routledge, From Therapeutic Relationships to Transitional Care: A Theoretical and Practical Roadmap, edited by Dr. Forchuk. The book combines theory, research and best practices into a “roadmap” for organizations and others worldwide coordinating services or studying mental health care systems. It includes a practical toolkit for implementing the Transitional Discharge Model (TDM), developed and tested in communities across Ontario.  

TDM was born from a participatory action project with consumers of mental health services. They identified two factors that were most important to them when they were going from hospital to the community: consistency in therapeutic relationships and a supportive peer friendship. They described it as a “safety net of relationships” that would bridge the gap between hospital and community services.  

“As a person-centred, evidence-based model, transitional discharge supports a smooth adjustment from hospital to community,” says Dr. Forchuk. “The inpatient staff continue to care for discharged clients until therapeutic relationships are established with community care providers. At the same time, we have a friendship model of peer support. These are trained people with lived experience of mental illness who have made the same journey.” 

Lance Dingman was a TDM client during the early phases of the project. “It makes a big difference when you’re able to get back to living in the community and in your own dwelling. You get to make more of your own decisions and learn about what you want to do. You grow with your experience and the guidance of others who are there to support you.”  

Later becoming a peer support coach, Dingman feels implementing TDM for mental health care is important because people can learn from each other and get healthier in the process. “As a peer support worker, I sit with people and they tell me their story. It takes me back and I know what they are going through – I was where they are. I can share my own story and tell them what I did to get better.”  

Dr. Forchuk’s team analyzed the cost of TDM after being tested in nine hospitals across Ontario, including London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London. On average, the length of stay in hospital was reduced by almost 10 (9.8) days per admission and each site saved approximately $3.3 million per year. “People can return home sooner because a higher level of care and support is in place when they leave hospital. If all hospitals in Ontario with mental health services were able to implement our transitional discharge model, we would save $60 million per year in hospital stay costs alone while providing enhanced mental health care.”  

The TDM approach is now considered a “good practice” by WHO and was recently the only Canadian example included in its Guidance on community mental health services: Promoting person-centered and rights-based approaches. This set of publications provides information and support to all stakeholders who wish to develop or transform their mental health system and services to align with international human rights standards including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  

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LONDON, ON – New research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute demonstrates that increased antioxidant levels in the brain may improve outcomes of early intervention in psychosis. In the paper published in Nature Molecular Psychiatry, the research team found that patients with higher levels of an antioxidant called glutathione responded more quickly to medication for psychosis and had improved outcomes. 

“Once patients with psychosis start treatment, some get better in weeks while it can take months for others. We wanted to see if we could understand and influence this disparity,” said Dr. Lena Palaniyappan, Associate Professor at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Scientist at Lawson Health Research Institute. “We found that the amount of antioxidants that patients have in their brains predicts the time that it takes for them to respond to treatment.”

Previous research has shown that patients who respond early to antipsychotic medications have better overall outcomes in terms of symptoms and daily functioning. The research team has estimated that a 10 per cent increase in antioxidants could lead to a reduction in length of hospital stay by at least seven days.

“This study demonstrates that if we can find a way to boost the amount of antioxidants in the brain, we might be able to help patients transition out of hospital more quickly, reduce their suffering more quickly and help them return earlier to their work and studies,” said Dr. Palaniyappan who is also the Tanna Schulich Endowed Chair in Neuroscience and Mental Health at Western.

Antioxidant levels in the brain vary naturally from person to person and those variations can be attributed to lifestyle choices like exercise and diet. There are also ways to pharmaceutically boost these levels. A supplement called N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) as well as broccoli extracts can increase the brain’s antioxidants if given over a long period of time. 

Dr. Palaniyappan and his team used high-field MRI imaging to examine antioxidant levels in the brains of 37 new patients to the Prevention and Early Intervention for Psychoses Program (PEPP) at London Health Sciences Centre. Antioxidant levels were studied prior to beginning treatment for psychosis and followed up for six months post-treatment.

The MRI scans were acquired at Western’s Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping at the Robarts Research Institute with the support of Western's BrainsCAN and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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LONDON, ON – Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute are offering new hope to patients with treatment-resistant depression through participation in a national clinical trial. The study is the first randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of a new treatment called magnetic seizure therapy (MST) for patients with treatment-resistant depression as a result of bipolar disorder. 

Treatment-resistant depression is a severe form of depression that does not respond to traditional therapies like medication. It is particularly common in patients with depression from bipolar disorder who are left with limited treatment options. 

For years electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been the gold standard for patients with treatment-resistant depression. ECT uses an electric field to induce a seizure that provides a therapeutic benefit. But while ECT is effective, many patients opt out of treatment due to stigma surrounding the therapy and the potential for cognitive side effects like disorientation and amnesia. 

MST has emerged as a promising alternative. MST works in a similar way to ECT but uses a focused magnetic field as opposed to electricity. As a result, MST induces a more focused seizure to reduce the risk of cognitive side effects.

“Magnetic seizure therapy has already been shown as a promising treatment for major depressive disorder or unipolar depression,” explains Dr. Amer Burhan, local site lead, researcher at Lawson and neuropsychiatrist at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. “For the first time, we’re studying how effective the treatment is for depression as a result of bipolar disorder and whether it can reduce the risk of cognitive side effects associated with electroconvulsive therapy.”

The clinical trial is being led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and will also be offered through Lawson and University of British Columbia (UBC) Hospital. Lawson researchers will invite eligible patients with treatment-resistant depression from bipolar disorder to participate in the trial at Parkwood Institute, a part of St. Joseph’s Health Care London.

Eligible patients will be randomized to receive either ECT or MST. Patients will be offered support throughout the study with the goal of improving patient outcomes in both groups. Patient outcomes will be compared to study the efficacy of MST and whether it is associated with reduced cognitive side effects.

MST will be delivered under anesthesia in 12 to 20 sessions. Sessions will last 10 to 15 minutes each with 60 to 90 minutes of recovery time.

“Magnetic seizure therapy holds promise of one day replacing electroconvulsive therapy as the gold standard for treatment-resistant depression,” says Dr. Burhan. If proven as a viable first-line treatment, MST would be very easy to implement in existing ECT clinics. MST would therefore be readily available to patients in need.

“We are on the leading edge of the field of brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression in collaboration with CAMH and UBC,” says Dr. Burhan. “Our goal is to continue informing the care process through clinically-relevant research that serves patients, medical professionals and the public.”

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LONDON, ON – Children with epilepsy have a higher risk of developing emotional and behavioural disorders, including depression, anxiety and poor self-esteem, yet it has been difficult for researchers to pinpoint why this occurs. In a new study, researchers at Children’s Health Research Institute (CHRI), a program of Lawson Health Research Institute, have found that family environment influences the relationship between clinical characteristics of epilepsy at diagnosis and children's emotional well-being two years later.

Emotional well-being is a broad measure of emotional functioning that includes multiple aspects of mental health, such as depression, anxiety, anger, happiness, or confidence. The researchers studied a group of children aged four to 12 with new-onset epilepsy, investigating factors at the time of diagnosis and their impact on the emotional well-being of the children two years later. The study focused on the role of the family environment, an area that has not been well-studied.

Results showed that clinical factors related directly to the children’s epilepsy, such as the type of epilepsy and frequency of seizures, were not associated with emotional well-being. Instead, several family characteristics, including family stresses, functioning and resources, were strongly associated with emotional well-being.

“This is important for how we think about patient care,” says Dr. Kathy Speechley, principal investigator on the study, Chair of the Children’s Health & Therapeutics Division at CHRI and a professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. “Treating the physical symptoms of chronic disease alone often does not result in significant improvements in quality of life. We need to examine other avenues for care.”

“From the time of diagnosis forward, it’s important for the health care team to take a broader, family-centred approach beyond controlling a child’s seizures. This means developing a better understanding of what day-to-day life is like for families living with childhood epilepsy, including their stressors, how well they are functioning and the resources they have to aid their adaptation to stressful life events,” says Dr. Shane Goodwin, first author on the study, which was conducted while he was a PhD candidate in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and a trainee at CHRI. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo.

One example of a family-centered approach to care the researchers point to is referring patients and their families to support programs, such as Clinic to Community in Southwestern Ontario. The Clinic to Community program is funded by the Ontario Brain Institute, and provides information about epilepsy and a network of support services.

The researchers completed the study using data from the Health-Related Quality of Life in Children with Epilepsy Study (HERQULES), a multicenter prospective cohort study based in Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre.

They will now continue to analyze data from the same group of patients as they progress toward adulthood and will develop intervention trials aimed at supporting families’ successful adaptation to life with epilepsy.

The study received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Children’s Health Foundation.

Drs. Kathy Speechley and Shane Goodwin will be available for interviews and photos on Wednesday, January 24 between 1:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. 

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New network helps consumers, researchers and food industry find and share trusted information about ‘ferment-ceuticals’

London (Ont.) – A one-stop network, the first of its kind in North America, has begun sharing easily digested research, recipes and other resources about the health benefits of fermented foods.

The new Canadian Fermented Foods Initiative (CFFI) launches officially on Nov. 17 with a gathering of research and industry experts from across the country and Europe.

The collaboration helps consumers, researchers, health professionals and food industry share trusted, science-based expertise and information about fermented foods.

Funded by the Weston Family Foundation, the initiative is led by Jeremy Burton, PhD, who heads of one of Canada’s largest microbiome research programs and is Interim Vice President Research at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Lawson Research Institute. His research leadership is joined by Raylene Reimer, PhD, professor of nutrition at the University of Calgary; and University of Alberta professor Ben Willing, PhD, former Canada Research Chair in Microbiology of Nutrigenomics.

Fermented foods such as sourdough bread, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha offer more than just good taste and an economical way to preserve food, Burton says. Large, population-based studies show people who eat fermented foods are generally healthier, with fewer digestive issues and lower risk of chronic diseases.

“How exactly does that work – and why? Well, that’s the big question we’re trying to solve,” Burton says. “One day, I believe, ‘ferment-ceuticals’ will be engrained in our diets and our health vocabulary.”

St. Joseph's is a leader in the field. A paper authored by the team and published this week in Advances in Nutrition represents the most comprehensive synthesis to date of research on fermented foods and human health.

Connor Flynn, a London, Ont., chef, master food preserver and high school teacher whose video recipes are included in the CFFI website, adds, “Fermenting foods is an old practice that’s never fallen out of flavour, but has sometimes fallen out of favour to North Americans. Now it has become popular again.”
To learn more about the CFFI, including fermented food recipes and the chef behind them, head to fermentedfoods.ca.

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To arrange interviews with CFFI project lead Jeremy Burton and chef Connor Flynn, who are available Friday Nov. 14 from 7 am – 8 am ET and Nov. 14 from 1 – 4 pm ET, contact:
Deb (Flaherty) Van Brenk, Communication Consultant
St. Joseph’s Health Care London
@email

About St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Renowned for compassionate care, St. Joseph’s Health Care London is a leading academic health care centre in Canada dedicated to helping people live to their fullest by minimizing the effects of injury, disease and disability through excellence in care, teaching and research. Through Lawson Research Institute, our innovation arm, and with collaborative engagement with other health and academic partners, St. Joseph’s has become an international leader in the areas of: chronic disease management; medical imaging; specialized mental health care; rehabilitation and specialized geriatrics; and surgery. St. Joseph’s operates through a wide range of hospital, clinic and long-term and community-based settings, including: St. Joseph’s Hospital; Parkwood Institute; Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care; and the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care.

LONDON, ON – At a virtual event today, a research team led by Lawson Health Research Institute announced details of a new project aimed at better understanding how many people in Canada are homeless and who they are. Developing more accurate sources of data related to homelessness helps ensure the proper supports and services are available.   

“The homeless experience varies significantly across Canada, especially within different rural and remote regions of the country,” says Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Assistant Scientific Director at Lawson and Distinguished University Professor at Western University. 

With funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Homelessness Counts research project builds on past work looking at how existing databases, such as provincial health data, could be better integrated and used as a more accurate, accessible and cost-effective way to determine homelessness.  

Many communities rely on shelter data, but not all regions have shelters and not all people who are experiencing homelessness use shelters even when available. There is also a standard “point in time” method that requires potentially hundreds of volunteers to go out and actually count the people in that area who are homeless. “Generally, these methods will still miss people who are temporarily staying with others or living in rough or abandoned areas, and is limited to a single point in time – often just one day of counting. It’s often not feasible for smaller communities to do this due to the effort required and it’s a population often missed in our census data,” explains Dr. Richard Booth, Scientist at Lawson and Associate Professor at Western. 

In the initial stages of the project, the team is holding focus groups with several representative communities across Canada to learn more about how data is tracked and accessed. They will consult with groups providing services such as homeless serving agencies, mental health and addiction agencies, hospitals, emergency services and municipal governments. Individual interviews will also be held with people with lived experience of homelessness. 

“To offer effective and efficient services, we need to know how many people are experiencing homelessness, along with their characteristics, location and needs. Right now, it’s difficult to track if things are getting better or worse, or simply changing, and if efforts to reduce the homeless population are making a difference. We don’t fully know the unique challenges of the ‘invisible homeless’ or if different subgroups are emerging,” says Dr. Booth.  

More demographics could be regularly included in the data, for example gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, involvement in the criminal justice system, psychiatric diagnoses, physical diagnoses and housing status.  

The team will bring together this information with existing datasets to improve the performance of an algorithm previously developed through a provincial research study, as well as insights gleaned from a rapid report on COVID-19 and homelessness. Machine learning will be used to generate enhanced risk and burden modeling.  

Dr. Forchuk adds that “homelessness is a complex social problem that touches on many different systems. It is made even more difficult to tackle when we have big gaps in the data. Our hope is to prototype a centralized surveillance system that can be scaled up across Canada to help make the right services available in the right places.”  

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Prestigious award will honour the national impact of Forchuk and her research into health and homelessness

Lawson Research Institute scientist Cheryl Forchuk, PhD, will be awarded the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal in honour of her groundbreaking health care research in the region and across the country.

Forchuk, who is also a Distinguished University Professor of Nursing in the Faculty of Health Sciences and in the Department of Psychiatry at Western University, will receive the medal in a special presentation ceremony in London on April 23.

In nominating Forchuk, London North Centre MPP Terence Kernaghan said the medal “recognizes outstanding individuals for their profound and lasting contribution to Ontario and to Canada.”

He said Forchuk has shown “exemplary leadership and ground-breaking work in mental health, homelessness, and the systems and models of care you’ve developed.”

Her important work has helped shape national perspectives and treatments for people experiencing homelessness – in particular, people with experiencing homelessness and mental health and/or homelessness and addiction.

Forchuk’s research studies have also influenced national policy in understanding and redressing veterans’ homelessness, in London and across Canada. She is currently conducting nation-wide research into specific issues experienced by women veterans who are homeless.

Forchuk said she was honoured to be nominated and selected for the medal, and that her work related to improving homelessness and mental health challenges including addiction could not have been possible without the assistance of many others. This assistance includes people with lived experience, multiple community and hospital partners, and her team of research coordinators, research assistants and students. Forchuk recently completed her term as The Beryl and Richard Ivey Research Chair in Aging, Mental Health, Rehabilitation & Recovery, an endowed position supported by the St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation.

The Coronation Medal program was created to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. It recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to a particular province, territory, region or community in Canada, or attained an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to our country.

The award will be presented by London-area MPPs on behalf of the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada and Premier Doug Ford.

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LONDON, ON - During a virtual event for Londoners hosted by Lawson Health Research Institute and the City of London, a multi-sectoral research team announced two projects representing a collaborative approach to preventing homelessness from within hospital walls. 

Built on the unique and successful No Fixed Address (NFA) strategy, these projects are being tested as a potential best practice for preventing hospital discharge to homelessness. NFA seeks to stop the cycle between hospital admissions and homelessness by providing timely and accessible supports to patients who would otherwise be discharged into homelessness.  It brings housing and financial supports into the health-care system, starting as soon as upon admission, to assist in finding appropriate housing and supports or avoiding a potential eviction. 

“Canada lacks a validated and coordinated service model to address the issue of hospital stay to no fixed address, which can often be the beginning of an individual’s experience with homelessness,” explains Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Beryl and Richard Ivey Research Chair in Aging, Mental Health, Rehabilitation and Recovery, and Assistant Scientific Director at Lawson. “There are multiple factors that cause people to be discharged into homelessness - systemic, organizational and personal. We need a collaborative and coordinated approach that honours housing as a basic human right.” 

Several departments at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care London collaborate with staff from the City of London, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Elgin-Middlesex, Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU), Salvation Army’s Housing Stability Bank and Ontario Works in the City of London to provide direct, on-site (or virtual) support for patients at risk of homelessness.

“Implementing a coordinated approach to addressing homelessness allows our staff to actively work alongside our partners in health care to prevent and divert individuals and families from an experience of homelessness by assessing their needs and connecting them to the housing supports.,” says John D’Oria, Coordinated Access Manager, City of London. “Whether it’s financial, social service or mental health support, this partnership and approach allows for a holistic approach to client care at the right time.”

Patients discharged from hospital to homelessness in Canada face many challenges that make recovery more difficult. They often experience higher readmission rates and emergency department visits. This is particularly concerning for youth, who have been found to be the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.

NFA was initially tested with strong success for mental health patients across the city and the second version of the project was extended to medical units at LHSC’s University and Victoria Hospitals.

PROJECT 1: Collaboration to Address Homelessness - Health, Housing and Income (H2I) 

This research study will evaluate the City of London’s Coordinated Access Outreach program at hospital sites. A Coordinated Access Outreach worker will support individuals at risk of homelessness to maintain or obtain housing. Ontario Works will assist with the provision of income and employment supports and the Salvation Army Housing Stability Bank may be accessed for needed financial resources to secure or maintain housing.  

Over two years, 106 participants will be interviewed in hospital and again six months post-discharge. Focus groups with participants, health care providers and community partners will provide further insight into the effectiveness of NFA. This project is funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)’s National Housing Strategy. 

PROJECT 2: Preventing discharge to No Fixed Address – Youth (NFA-Y) 

This research study will customize, implement and evaluate the NFA strategy for vulnerable youth ages 16-24. The unique health and housing needs of youth at-risk will be explored by streamlining housing and financial support into a coordinated system of care, with additional support provided by Youth Opportunities Unlimited and Children’s Aid Society London and Middlesex. 

Over 3-4 years, data to be collected from 93 youth at three time points. Focus groups with youth participants, health care providers, and community agency partners will help enhance the NFA strategy to meet the unique needs of youth. This project is funded by the National Centres of Excellence (NCE) Making the Shift (MtS) Youth Social Innovation Lab. 

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LONDON, ON - The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tangible impact on the mental health and wellbeing of Canadian health care workers, who have faced challenges that include increased workloads, resource constraints and fears of exposure to COVID-19.

Announced today, researchers out of Lawson Health Research Institute's MacDonald Franklin OSI Research Centre, have received $2.8 million in funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to launch a project that will support the mental health and wellbeing of Canadian health care workers. The project is titled “Promoting Resilience and Mental Health: Adapting Canada’s Department of National Defence Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) Program to Support Canadian Health Care Workers.”

The project will adapt the current Road to Mental Readiness Program, created for the Canadian Military. The aim is to identify mental health and wellness barriers in health care institutions, and create a streamlined framework that will build and promote supportive environments within institutions across the nation. 

“This program has been a personalized approach with the military, and we are now adapting it to focus on Canadian health care workers,” explains Dr. Anthony Nazarov, Associate Scientist at Lawson and the MacDonald Franklin OSI Research Centre at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. “We want to educate institutions to create an environment that supports wellness not just at the individual level, but at the institutional level as well.”

The project, which will span 14 months, will assist in the planning, adaptation and testing of the health care focused Road to Mental Readiness Program.

“One of the main reasons we felt this was necessary stems from a recent study our team conducted that focused on moral distress and the mental health of Canadian health care workers,” says Dr. Don Richardson, Lawson Scientist and Director of the MacDonald Franklin OSI Research Centre at St. Joseph’s. “Our preliminary study results found that many Canadian health care workers have been negatively impacted by the pandemic with conditions such as; posttraumatic stress disorder, stress and depression.” 

Once the research team has adapted the current Road to Mental Readiness Program, they will test it with health care workers to confirm its efficacy.

“We hope to have this type of resiliency program adopted by health care organizations across the country,” explains Dr. Richardson. “If proven effective, this would provide additional tools to health care workers to help them cope, improve their resiliency and hopefully mitigate future staff shortages.”

The funding is part of the federal 2021 budget which has committed an investment of $50 million over two years to support projects that address posttraumatic stress disorder and trauma in frontline and essential workers, and others affected by the pandemic. The nine projects announced, totaling an investment of $28.2 million, is the first round of projects being supported through this Budget 2021 commitment.

LONDON, ON – Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute have launched a pilot study and pilot project called Queer in the Classroom, to examine the benefits of a proactive, inclusive approach within the education system for those who are part of the 2SLBTGQIA+ student community.

“The Queer in the Classroom initiative is so important because when we look at the data, youth in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community are 14 times more likely to die by suicide,” says Dr. Arlene MacDougall, Lawson Scientist, Director of MINDS and Psychiatrist at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. “We need to be focusing on this population who are also experiencing a higher degree of isolation, stigma and substance use.”

The pilot project focuses on professional development for teachers and staff to help create an environment that is tailored to best support 2SLGBTQIA+ students through the additional stress they face as a minority group. 

“This project is about connecting with school boards and teachers to help develop the knowledge and skills to create spaces that go beyond tolerating differences,” explains MacDougall. “The focus is to create an environment that is more affirming, that is more responsive and more proactive rather than reactive.”

The foundation for the pilot project came from a scoping review of existing research on this topic conducted by the research team through the Mental Health INcubator for Disruptive Solutions (MINDS), that looked extensively at how teachers themselves can create a classroom that embraces all students. 

“We further conducted our own research based on a series of interviews of 2SLGBTQIA+ students at both elementary and secondary schools in Ontario, and their parents and teachers. We focused on not only their safety in school, but also being celebrated for who they are,” says Iylah Neves, Lawson Research Assistant through MINDS.  “We drew on all of this research to best inform the practices we are using with the Queer in the Classroom initiative.”

Currently the Queer in the Classroom project is being rolled out on a ‘by-request’ basis. However, the research team is working with a couple of school boards within Ontario to discuss the possibility of wider implementation.

“Queer in the Classroom has been driven by the voices of students with personal experiences who feel there is a deep need for this type of innovation,” says Neves. “It is our responsibility to make those changes so that students can access a safe, inclusive and nurturing environment.”

LONDON, ON – Lawson Health Research Institute has been awarded over $2 million in federal funding for a project focusing on two unique medical imaging systems designed to give unparalleled insight into brain function and disease.  

Today, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, announced more than $518 million in research infrastructure support through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). In a live conversation today at 1 p.m., the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, will share more about how the funding will support 102 state-of-the-art projects at 35 post-secondary institutions and research hospitals across the country - helping Canada remain at the forefront of exploration, innovation and discovery. 

“Imaging technologies, such as MRI and PET scanners, have revolutionized our understanding and treatment of major neurological diseases, including dementia and mental illness, by allowing us to study disease mechanisms and their impact on brain health,” says Dr. Keith St. Lawrence, Lawson Scientist and project co-lead. “We are developing and testing two leading-edge systems that will enable imaging of key vascular, metabolic and molecular factors linked to disease.”  

The first system is a head-only PET (positron emission tomography) insert that can be placed in any clinical MRI machine. Combining the molecular specificity of PET with the structural and functional capabilities of MRI, the possibilities for brain imaging will be greatly enhanced. The head-only PET insert being tested in London has been developed by Cubresa Inc., located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  

“Combined with deep-learning approaches, we could achieve a highly improved sensitivity of the PET insert and reduce the radiation dose by up to 50 times compared to whole-body imaging,” explains Dr. Jonathan Thiessen, Lawson Scientist and project co-lead. “This will be the first commercially available high-resolution brain PET/MRI installed in the world.”  

For example, better diagnosis of different forms of dementias would be possible and researchers could closely compare protein abnormalities in the brain with cognitive function. The low radiation dose allows for long-term studies investigating changes in the brain and neuroinflammation that can lead to major psychiatric diseases and cognitive degeneration or disability. 

The second system uses portable, state-of-the-art optical imaging to increase the reliability of bedside brain monitoring to provide rapid assessment of brain health in restrictive environments.   

“We believe this technology will demonstrate how biomedical optics can improve neurological outcome for surgery and patients in intensive care, provide an accessible technology for assessing neurovascular health, and become a clinically relevant tool for monitoring changes in brain function,” says Dr. St. Lawrence.  

With current systems, the type of data is limited and extremely vulnerable to signal contamination from the scalp which can overshadow signals from the brain. Using the team’s specialized detection approach, the scalp signal contributions could be greatly reduced to get more accurate information on markers of brain activity, such as cerebral blood flow and energy metabolism.  

The team will study use of the system in surgical and intensive-care settings to monitor for cerebral ischemia and metabolic stress, which are the major causes of brain injury. They will also monitor treatment in patients with schizophrenia and study dysfunction in the brain associated with negative symptoms, as cognitive impairment deteriorates with age for some people with the disease. Another goal is to develop a brain-computer interface for patients who are incapable of physical communication. 

“With this funding, we can develop a truly unique advancement that has the potential to test the limits of optics for brain applications,” adds Dr. Thiessen. These two imaging platforms build on previous investments in Lawson Imaging that now exceed over $40 million in research funds since the initial CFI support in hybrid imaging in 2007.

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LONDON, ON – Concerned that patients from the First Episode Mood and Anxiety Program (FEMAP) at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) would lose connection to important mental health services during the first wave of the pandemic, researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson) tested the use of an electronic questionnaire to help monitor and assess the mental health impacts of isolating public health measures on young adults with mood and anxiety disorders. 

Since the pandemic’s start, there have been concerns about the effects of quarantine measures on mental health. Young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 with mood and anxiety disorders are particularly vulnerable as they could experience high levels of depression, anxiety, traumatic stress and functional impairment from social isolation.  

“It was unclear how these young adults would weather prolonged physical distancing, inactivity and reduced structure to their days. Some may be at an increased risk for depression while others may see symptoms improve due to fewer social expectations,” explains Dr. Elizabeth Osuch, Scientist at Lawson and Medical Director at FEMAP. “It is critical we understand how they respond to inform mental health care in response to the pandemic.” 

The study followed 114 participants who completed regular surveys answering questions about their experiences during the pandemic, including information about their mood and anxiety symptoms, functioning and coping strategies. The team was immediately alerted if a patient’s survey responses were concerning, so they could reach out. 

The research team analyzed changes in patient symptoms, functioning and coping strategies over the course of several months. Participants who were flagged for concerning scores were found to be younger, more likely to be on a waiting list for treatment, and more likely to have been laid off from work or have a higher degree of functional impairment. 

“The questionnaire made it easy to stay connected with patients, and by monitoring their symptoms and functioning we were able to make sure that our resources, limited by the pandemic, could be directed to those who needed it the most,” says Dr. Osuch. 

The researchers anticipated early on that those with mood and anxiety disorders would respond uniquely to the pandemic situation. Some would have more difficulty with the quarantine itself while others might ultimately find the return to normal more challenging. By understanding these different trajectories and how to track them, care can be optimized for future pandemic events or other public health emergencies. 

The study, “Monitoring the effects of COVID‐19 in emerging adults with pre‐existing mood and anxiety disorders,” is published in Early Intervention in Psychiatry. 

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LONDON, ON- A team at Lawson Health Research Institute are looking to improve mental health treatments and resources for patients who have experienced a stroke. The team will recruit 100 stroke patients to assess whether the completion of a guided therapy program can improve mental health and quality of life.

Strokes affect approximately 400,000 Canadians each year and can be debilitating. They can negatively affect a person’s cognition and mobility, and severely impact mental health and wellbeing.

“More than sixty per cent of patients experience depression after stroke,” says Dr. Robert Teasell, Lawson Scientist and Physiatrist at St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s Parkwood Institute. “Having a stroke itself makes people more vulnerable and makes people feel their lives have changed negatively.”

During stroke rehabilitation, patients are typically offered mental health treatments, but the research team say it is post rehabilitation that stroke patients tend to experience worsening depression.

“Publicly funded allied health care services are available at inpatient and outpatient care; however, psychology is often limited across the rehabilitation continuum from acute to community care,” says Dr. Swati Mehta, Lawson Scientist. “We are looking at how we can provide a program that is cost effective to help those who have these barriers to access mental health services.”

The study will examine the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is an evidence based psychological intervention that aims to provide people with increased coping ability and self-efficacy. Participants will complete a 10-week guided program with specific targeted lessons, tailored to the needs of those post stroke, delivered virtually through a trained clinician. They will then complete a questionnaire to see if there have been any improvements to self-efficacy and emotional wellbeing.

“We have found this form of therapy (CBT) has been very effective and feasible for spinal cord injury patients with mild traumatic brain injury and we want to see how a modified version could potentially help those with stroke and depression,” says Randy Upper, Clinical Research Associate at Lawson.

If CBT is proven effective through this study, Dr. Mehta hopes it will encourage similar programming that would be available to stroke patients after rehab.

“We are hoping we can connect with community organizations and work with them to implement this program in a service delivery model that would be easily accessible for stroke patients living in the community.”

Recruitment for this study is currently underway, those interested in taking part can email Dr. Swati Mehta at: @email
 

LONDON - In a study published in MDPI Journal, a team of researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute have shown that the use of technology may assist in better outcomes for those living with both mental health and physical disorders.

Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Assistant Scientific Director at Lawson, and her team embarked on a pilot study that used smart home monitoring solutions to assist those living with both a mental health disorder and other health challenges. The purpose of this pilot study was to see if technology could improve overall lifestyle and wellbeing.
 
“We began our research by using hospital prototype apartments – apartment style care spaces within hospital settings – that were equipped with smart home technology solutions such as a screen device, activity trackers, weigh scales and medication dispensers,” says Dr. Forchuk who is also the Beryl and Richard Ivey Research Chair in Aging, Mental Health, Rehabilitation and Recovery at St. Joseph’s Health care London. “Once we tested it in a hospital setting, we wanted to find a way to take this idea out into the community in different kinds of housing and living situations to see if it would be beneficial.”

The research team partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and the London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH) to work together to retrofit the homes of the 13 study participants.

“We worked together with the participants and their care providers to choose what combination of  technology they felt would be best for them,” says Dr. Forchuk. “No matter their health condition each participant wanted to be more active and independent, with the goal of staying out of hospital.”

All smart devices were connected to the Lawson Integrated Database, which is a database that can securely collect data from multiple sources such as health devices. This allowed care providers to send reminders to participants, while also tracking usage and results.

“The key benefits we noted was that study participants started to live healthier lives,” says Jonathan Serrato, Lawson Research Associate. “Participants logged going for walks and exercising more often, as well as making healthier food choices. Those who used the medication dispensers did not miss a single dose. The touch screen devices also allowed participants to easily communicate with care providers and support networks, and access more resources.”

Following the pilot study, the research team also published a subsequent paper, as a ‘how-to guide’ for utilizing smart home technology interventions as a health care tool.

“This paper is a helpful resource that outlines implications and considerations when it comes to smart home technologies,” adds Serrato. “There are many areas we touch upon such as security, privacy and feasibility as well as hardware and software information for those who would like to take on their own similar type of smart home technology project.”

LONDON, ON- The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on social connections, emotional health and well-being, especially for older adults.  A new study through Lawson Health Research Institute will examine whether online/virtual ‘meaning-centered’ groups can help promote social connections and reduce risk for psychological distress.

Online meaning-centered groups are a promising approach developed by a research team led by Dr. Marnin Heisel, a Lawson Scientist, Clinical Psychologist at London Health Sciences Centre and Professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University.

In his previous research, which began in-person and pivoted online during the pandemic, Dr. Heisel found that Meaning-Centered Groups helped men transitioning into retirement, a time when there is often a struggle with issues of identity, purpose and lost social connections.

“We found that people really enjoyed the camaraderie, they supported one another and many of them started getting involved in community activities, including outreach activities of their own and volunteering,” says Dr. Heisel.

Now, Dr. Heisel and his colleagues are looking to recruit participants from one of the populations hardest hit by the mental health impacts of the pandemic – older adults, who have become even more socially isolated.

“A lot of my research is focused on suicide prevention in older adults and I realized over time that one of the best ways of doing that is not waiting until people have to come for a psychologist or psychiatrist’s help, but rather to intervene much earlier and help people find those things that make life worth living,” notes Dr. Heisel.

The sessions will be 75 to 90 minutes and convened online once a week for eight weeks. The hope is to include approximately 10 people per group, with multiple groups underway at the same time.

“The meetings will focus on supporting one another, trying to build and enhance psychological resiliency, focusing on finding meaning in creative outlets, in relationships and other experiences,” explains Dr. Heisel. “They will also focus on attitudes towards challenges in life including adversities, the pandemic, being socially isolated, and also positive experiences.”

Dr. Heisel says he recognizes that the virtual format can be a challenge for some, but his team will help participants to both access and successfully use the technology.

Recruitment for the study is underway. Those interested in participating or who have friends or loved ones who might be interested can contact Dr. Heisel at Marnin.Heisel@lhsc.on.ca or view the study website at https://meaningfulgroups.com/groups for details.

Funding for the study is being provided by the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation at the Baycrest Centre and the Canadian government.
 

LONDON, ONTARIO - Lawson Health Research Institute and the Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are partnering with a population at high risk of mental illness – Canadian Veterans and spouses of Canadian Veterans – to study how they have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through online surveys, the project will hear directly from Veterans and their spouses to assess the pandemic’s effects on their wellbeing over time. The team hopes results can be used by health care workers and policymakers to support Veterans and their families during both the current pandemic and future public health emergencies. 

“With concerns about COVID-19 infection and drastic changes to everyday life, the pandemic is taking a toll on the health of Canadians,” explains Dr. Don Richardson, Lawson Associate Scientist and Director of the MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Research Centre. “And it may be particularly distressing for those vulnerable to mental illness.”

Population studies show that Canadian Veterans are at double the risk of mental illness when compared to the rest of the population. They experience higher rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness. Spouses of Canadian Veterans are also at higher risk of distress, sometimes undertaking significant caregiving responsibilities that lead to less independence.  

“It’s currently unknown how the pandemic will impact Veterans and their spouses, but it could result in particularly serious outcomes,” says Dr. Anthony Nazarov, Associate Scientist at Lawson and the MacDonald Franklin OSI Research Centre. “We want to hear from all Canadian Veterans and their spouses, whether they’re doing well or not and whether they’re seeking care or not.”

The study aims to recruit 1,000 Canadian Veterans and 250 spouses of Canadian Veterans.  Participants will complete online surveys, available in both English and French, once every three months for a total of 18 months. They will be asked questions about their psychological, social, family-related and physical wellbeing, and any relevant changes to their lifestyle and health care treatment. 

“Veterans who regularly access health care services could encounter significant changes, including a move to virtual care appointments. This could lead to increased caregiving responsibilities for spouses,” says Dr. Nazarov. “Given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, these changes may persist well into the future, mandating a thorough assessment of patient satisfaction and treatment outcomes.”
 
The team hopes results can be used to support the wellness of Veterans and their families during public health emergencies. This includes providing health care professionals and policymakers with information to guide emergency preparedness policies and health care delivery models. They hope results can also be used to recognize early signs of distress in order to target with early interventions.

“We are seeking to understand the impact of COVID-19 on Veterans and their families to identify if this global pandemic is leading to psychological distress or triggering historical traumas,” says Dr. Patrick Smith, CEO of the Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. “The Centre’s primary goal is to increase Canadian expertise related to military and Veteran mental health, suicide prevention and substance use disorders. This study can help us understand if the pandemic is having debilitating and life-altering effects, and help us address a potential mental health crisis.”  

Interested Canadian Veterans and spouses of Canadian Veterans can learn more about the study at www.veteransurvey.ca.

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