Media releases

• Young adults with Type 1 diabetes needed for Brock study

  Monday, February 01, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 01 February 2021 – R0014

  Vanessa Sjaarda (BScN ’19) was training to be a cardiovascular technologist when the symptoms began — constant thirst, followed by dramatic weight loss. She ended up in hospital and was soon diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

  Now, as she pursues her master’s research in Applied Health Sciences, the Brock University graduate student wants to make a difference in the lives of those faced with the disease.

  Sjaarda is seeking young adults ages 18 to 30 with Type 1 diabetes to explore what traits they’d want in a prospective mentor. The goal of the project is to design an intervention to help those with the condition who may be struggling.

  Type 1 diabetes, commonly referred to as juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition where the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself. Over time, this leads to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.

  “It has been 10 years since I received this life-changing diagnosis,” says Sjaarda, who recognizes there are many others like her who received the news beyond childhood.

  “While there is a lot of focus and research on kids with Type 1 diabetes, eventually we all become young adults and there is a knowledge gap for our age group,” she says.

  Sjaarda, alongside her thesis supervisor, Associate Professor of Nursing Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy, and community research partner, Dr. Andrea Delrue, Niagara Health, Niagara Diabetes Centre, is exploring how mentorship can provide support, improve quality of life and fill gaps.

  “This is a disease that requires constant management and learning how to take care of yourself daily,” says Sjaarda. “Findings from my literature review emphasize there are high levels of emotional stress linked to the unending worries, burdens and concerns that occur when managing diabetes.”

  These symptoms, defined as ‘diabetes distress,’ can lead to burnout as diabetics try to control their own physical and mental health. Issues of this nature are now “exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says O’Keefe-McCarthy.

  Findings also suggest increasing diabetes knowledge and psychosocial supports result in behaviour changes, which enable better management of the disease and improve mental health.

  Driven to create an impactful study, the research team initially intended for participant recruitment and interviews to take place in a clinical setting. The COVID-19 pandemic has largely affected this approach as in-person interactions have been suspended since March 2020.

  “Now with COVID, I’m meeting with young people online or through phone interviews,” explains Sjaarda. “Losing the opportunity to develop a face-to-face relationship, which is a key component of qualitative research, is not ideal but we are making it work.”

  One of the notable changes to the research approach is now interviewees are afforded the opportunity to consider how COVID-19 is affecting how they are managing their diabetes, mental health, finances and support systems. Participant recruitment is now being done by snowball sampling or word of mouth. This has increased the geographic reach of the study beyond Niagara and throughout Ontario.

  The piece of the larger study that Sjaarda is working on aims to identify what mentorship means to each young participant and how the research team might go about creating a process that identifies suitable mentors.

  The research project, “Requisite Characteristics of a Mentor to Establish Positive Relationships in a Type One Diabetes Intervention from the Mentee Perspective,” is seeking English-speaking study participants.

  Young people aged 18 to 30 with Type 1 diabetes who are interested in participating in an online interview via Microsoft Teams are invited to email Sjaarda at [email protected] before Wednesday, March 31. The conversation-style interviews typically take less than one hour and participants can choose to share as much or as little as they feel comfortable.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

  – 30 –

  Categories: Media releases

• Brock launches its first Indigenous Research Grant

  Friday, January 29, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 29 January 2021 – R0013

  In the months before she became Acting Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement, Robyn Bourgeois led a process that was to yield a first for Brock University’s Indigenous researchers and researchers studying Indigenous topics.

  The Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies held extensive consultations with Two Row Council, the Aboriginal Education Council, other Indigenous members of the Brock community and staff from the Office of Research Services to prepare the Terms of Reference for an unprecedented internal funding source.

  The University’s first-ever Indigenous Research Grant, valued up to $7,500 per proposal, is now open for applications from Brock faculty.

  “We are really looking to support research that is Indigenous-centred: developed in conjunction with Indigenous Peoples and contributing in positive, reciprocal ways to Indigenous Peoples,” says Bourgeois.

  Research and creative activities led by, or in partnership with, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples will be given priority, although research proposals involving Indigenous Peoples located around the world are also welcome.

  Topics identified through the consultations as being high priority include:

  • social innovation related to Indigenous issues
  • knowledge-based practices in the development of Indigenous curriculum
  • understanding health service utilization by Indigenous Peoples
  • factors influencing recruitment and retention of Indigenous students
  • governance and leadership
  • knowledge-based practices for volunteerism with Indigenous Peoples
  • Indigenous health practices and promotion
  • Indigenous language revitalization
  • addressing violence against Indigenous Peoples
  • Indigenous community-driven research agendas

  The grant aims to help researchers develop their research programs and creative activities so they can apply to external granting agencies such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding.

  It also aims to support a more equitable and just way of scholarship, says Bourgeois. 

  “It’s research that centres Indigenous ways of knowing and doing and resists extractive research relationships where Indigenous Peoples are treated as objects of study and, instead, ensures that they are partners in the creation of knowledge and in processes including the development of research strategies, ownership of data and dissemination of findings,” she says.

  The grant, and Indigenous-centred research, reflect the wider direction the University is taking, says Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon.

  “The program supports multiple pillars of the Brock Institutional Strategic Plan, especially building research capacity, and supporting a culture of reconciliation and decolonization,” he says.

  “I’m grateful to colleagues on Two Row Council and the Aboriginal Education Council for their input on the program, and to Dr. Robyn Bourgeois for her work over the past year in facilitating that input and crafting the program details.”

  Applications will be accepted on a continuous basis and Brock faculty can apply for the funding through the Indigenous Research Grant webpage.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

  – 30 –

  Categories: Media releases