Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Much has been made of the fact that Canada's population is aging, and with it, the number of people suffering from thinking problems is climbing. Treatment aimed at addressing the impact of aging is particularly restricted in rural regions of Canada that are in great need of creative solutions to service delivery barriers. The heart of this research is to encourage a wide variety of healthcare professionals to join forces to develop new treatment options that will allow rural Canadians to age gracefully in their thinking abilities. To do so, healthy elderly who consent to participate will be provided with a self-help treatment kit containing specialized thinking activities that are believed to strengthen intellect. Over the course of 4 weeks, participants will be required to engage in the program by themselves 1 hour, 5 days/week. To ensure that the project goes smoothly, participants will be closely monitored and will be provide with one-on-one coaching throughout the treatment period. At the end of the program, participants of the treatment program will be compared to people who were not part of the program in order to see if the program worked in improving thinking ability. What this project highlights is a need for researchers and practitioners to connect in a way that improves the quality and accessibility of care to rural-dwelling Canadians. A program that encourages people to actively participate in overcoming their thinking problems is irrefutably worth pursuing.