Researchers secure Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant funding for innovative cross-disciplinary projects
Nursing professor Coralee McLaren (left) and engineering professor Patrick Neumann (right) have received Project Grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Two Ryerson professors have received Project Grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for their innovative, cross-disciplinary projects. The funding will enable research into fostering movement in children with dis/abilities and developing technology to measure the workloads of nurses and health-care aides, and the impact on fatigue and care quality.
Fostering movement in children with diverse abilities
By blending scientific and artistic practices, nursing professor Coralee McLaren will lead research aimed at developing novel rehabilitation strategies for children with dis/abilities to support their learning and socio-physical health and well-being at school. These strategies will cue synchronized movements in children using dance as a primary method. This research will include refining the measurement of children’s neurocognitive responses when observing movement and developing methodologies that will prompt similar responses between professionally trained dancers and children.
This interdisciplinary project builds on her previous CIHR-funded research that focused on the relationship between children’s movement and physical environments. Professor McLaren will collaborate with colleagues from Ryerson, Laval University, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and the Toronto dance community on this project.
Quantifying the workload of nurses and health-care aides in complex continuing care
Engineering professor Patrick Neumann, along with nursing professors Susan Bookey-Bassett and Nancy Purdy, is addressing the critical issues of nurses and health-care aides burning out and leaving the profession by examining workload. To do so they will create computer simulations of real hospital care units to quantify the workload of nurses and health-care aides – and its impacts on worker fatigue, injuries and patient care quality – in complex continuing care units.
Through these simulations, the team will explore topics such as care unit design and layout, patient assignments and staffing levels, developing models that can predict staff workload and patient care quality outcomes prior to making changes in real practice settings. This work may answer important questions for health-care leaders as they consider new care models. The researchers will work with health-care managers and an advisory committee to gain insights into how the simulations can be adapted to address the issues in our health care systems and shape improvements for staff and patients.
Professors Neumann, Bookey-Bassett and Purdy will collaborate with researchers from Queen’s University, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, and the University Health Network for this project.
“Congratulations to professors McLaren and Neumann and their collaborators,” said Steven N. Liss, Ryerson’s vice-president, research and innovation. “These Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grants will support their pioneering research that will advance health care through novel approaches, through integrating art and science to develop rehabilitative strategies for children with dis/abilities and combining engineering and nursing expertise to improve work environments for health-care providers.”
These two projects received a total of more than $700,000 from CIHR’s Project Grant program.
Complete list of CIHR Project Grant Fall 2021 competition funded projects. (opens in new window)
Related links:
Learn more about professor McLaren’s past research into children’s movement and new spaces.