PopNB aims to characterize New Brunswick’s demographics by analyzing open-source data. With these analyses, we hope to inform data-driven policy for government and community stakeholders. PopNB operated this summer with the help of Dr. Ted McDonald, the Director of NB-IRDT and the principal investigator for the project, and Madeleine Gorman-Asal, PopNB’s student mentor. We explored the implications of New Brunswick’s aging population by first conducting a literature review to gain a solid understanding of the current scope of NB’s aging problem before beginning our analysis of Statistics Canada data.
Read moreBoostNB: The Future is In Our Hands – BoostNB’s Economic Indicators for the Province of New Brunswick
This summer, our student-led team (Tashi Dorji, Sandra Rafeh, and Caroline Pietroski, all third-year undergraduate students in Economics) were hired by the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data, and Training (NB-IRDT) to participate as student researchers in the 2021 Pathways to Professions (P2P) program and comprise the BoostNB team for the summer of 2021. P2P is a 13-week experiential learning program developed by NB-IRDT that allows post-secondary students to work as part of a research team while attending sessions on research methods and job readiness skills.
Read moreSocial Determinants of Health, Indigenous Communities and COVID-19: How has physical environment and access to healthcare influenced Indigenous health & wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic?
“The rise of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exposed many barriers to healthcare experienced by Indigenous people and emphasized the “Social Determinants of Health.” COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted marginalized Indigenous communities, resulting in poorer overall health outcomes. This includes Indigenous peoples who live on-reserve or off-reserve and who might be status or non-status.”
Read moreiGenNB: Intergenerational Living for Community Well-Being
“Intergenerational living is an internationally known co-living model where older adults and seniors share their homes with younger adults to foster a mutually beneficial living arrangement. In exchange for affordable living, the younger adults will provide household services such as snow removal, grocery shopping, running errands, gardening, companionship, and more.
Read this article to learn how iGenNB, a pilot intergenerational living program in New Brunswick, hopes to “improve quality of life, reduce ageism, and lessen the strain on community care services.”
Read moreInformal Care giving and Driving Safety: A Complex Issue
In completing her honours undergraduate thesis at St. Thomas University, Elizabeth Dreise investigated how informal caregivers manage driving safety with their loved ones, particularly in the context of dementia or cognitive decline.
Read moreThe Solution to Pollution: Using Porous Materials to Clean the Air
“The passion for my research was sparked long before I ever entered academia. As a young boy growing up on a farm in rural Nova Scotia, the idea of sustainability was taught at an early age. I recall cool springs spent planting crops followed by warm summers spent reaping the fruits of our labour. This was the first piece of tangible evidence that demonstrated to me that we could get our basic needs from the planet without completely destroying it in the process. This idea has influenced both my personal, and academic, journey to date.” - Devon McGrath
Read moreThe Treatment of Two Worldwide Diseases with One Medication
Emma Giberson explores the possibility of treating cancer with Metformin, a medication commonly used to treat diabetes. Highlighting research done by Masters student Lua Samimi, she dives into the significance of versatile medications and how far unconventional thinking can advance our modern idea of treatment.
Read moreMeasuring Physical Health Needs for Older Adults
Canada’s older adult population, those 65 and older, is increasing; more specifically, New Brunswick has one of the largest older adult populations in Canada [1]. This is concerning because as these individuals age, their ability to live independently may decrease – meaning they will be unable to live on their own.
Read moreUnderstanding Research to Build a Better Future
Improving health care, adjusting policies, and allowing research to make an impact is vital for advancing our technologies to meet our new needs. As communities grow larger, and new problems arise, technology must adapt to be effective. People that work on tackling integration of new technology into society are known as Translational Scientists. Dr. Keith Brunt, a Translational Scientist with IMPART labs, and a faculty member in Medicine and Business at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick and UNBSJ has first-hand experience in the area of translational medicine and understands its importance for the future.
Read moreAdapting Health Care to Solve Modern Problems
The Atlantic Student Research Journal sits down with Dr. Erik Scheme to explore how he plans to implement a proactive health care model by building medical technologies to support this new system.
Read moreTools for Success: Building Tools for Better Quality of Care
With 19.5% of the population being aged 65 or older, New Brunswick has the highest proportion of older adults in Canada and it is projected that by 2026 this will rise to 25.7% of the population. In 2016, there were 67 nursing homes, and 390 special care homes providing residential care. With a large proportion of the population living in long-term care, it is important to know how to care for patients and their needs, including choices and interactions between staff and the patient.
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