Two Brock University professors have been awarded Faculty Mobility funding from the federal government for their upcoming work in Jamaica and Brazil.

Earlier this year, Global Affairs Canada announced a new funding opportunity under the Faculty Mobility Program (FMP), which aims to increase the number of institutional collaborations and student exchange agreements between Canadian and non-Canadian institutions eligible under the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP).

With support from Brock’s Global Scholars Office, Professor of Educational Studies Dolana Mogadime and Professor of Nursing Lynn McCleary submitted their applications prior to the April deadline.

Mogadime will conduct research in Jamaica with the University of the West Indies (UWI) starting January 2021. In collaboration with Shani Roper, Museum Curator, Archives, UWI, Mogadime’s research aims to improve the participation of girls and young women in the sciences. Specifically, the project will target underserved communities and women in STEM.

Mogadime’s decision to partner with UWI started in February when she visited the UWI museum while attending the inaugural Canada Caribbean Institute Symposium.

“It was a transformational experience to be in person and witness the exhibition on the Windrush Immigration from the Caribbean to the U.K. that the UWI was hosting,” said Mogadime, adding that she decided to partner with Roper because of her “outstanding work as a curator.”

The focus of Mogadime’s work is to assist with an installation for the UWI exhibition on sickle cell anemia research in the area of oral histories of public health academics, as well as to develop experiential learning materials for youth to engage with deeper knowledge about the social implications of STEM research.

Mogadime will also host a workshop in Jamaica on oral history methods and women in STEM to educate and train the local and UWI community on using gender-based approaches to documenting women’s history.

Later next year, McCleary will conduct research with Ana Carolina Bertoletti De Marchi at the University of Passo Fundo (UPF) in Passo Fundo, Brazil.

In this study, McCleary will collaborate and interpret results of De Marchi’s ongoing study of mobile technology (m-health) app for patients experiencing hypertension (high blood pressure), as well as treatment adherence, healthy lifestyle and acceptability of the app.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to learn from Dr. De Marchi’s research about m-health,” said McCleary. “We have a shared interest in health care for older persons [gerontological nursing] and nursing intervention research. We’re hoping to explore mobile health applications for caregiving, including dementia caregiving.”

McCleary is no stranger to international field studies, having participated as a faculty lead in three extra-curricular student exchanges to Peru and Ecuador. She will contribute, as a collaborator and co-author, to interpretation of the findings related to intervention fidelity (the extent to which patients used the app as intended) through the lens of nurse-patient relationships and gerontology.

In addition, McCleary will co-develop a proposal to develop and test an m-health app for family caregivers of patients with dementia. E-health has been applied to dementia caregiving to shift caregiver education and support groups from face-to-face to computer mediated groups.

“Cell phones have been the norm longer in Brazil than in Canada, so there is a large population of older people who use smart phones and who can be engaged in m-health,” said McCleary. “We can learn from their experience.”

The goal of the app and research is to use an interactive app to increase caregiver access to information about dementia and dementia services and access to tips for dementia caregiving, such as safety in the home, adapting communication, self-care for the caregiver and planning for the future.

As part of the project, McCleary plans to guest lecture to faculty and students in the PhD and master’s programs at the V International Congress for the Study of Human Aging UPF. Presenting virtually, she will share methods and findings of her research, including intergenerational volunteering in LTC homes, transitions in dementia care and end of life care for persons with dementia.