About NB-PALM

What is NB-PALM?

NB-PALM is a bilingual, multi-institutional, collaborative, research project supported by New Brunswick’s Healthy Seniors Pilot Projects, funded by the Government of New Brunswick and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Members of the NB-PALM team come from the University of New Brunswick, Horizon Health Network, Vitalité Health Network, Université de Moncton, and Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick.

Our research has three (3) objectives focused on answering important questions for delivering brain health programs:

Engagement - What do older adults in New Brunswick think about brain health and lifestyle changes to prevent dementia?
Feasibility and Impact - Is it feasible to deliver brain health programs to older adults in New Brunswick, what do they think about these programs, and is there evidence they work?
Evaluation - How can the impact of delivering brain health programs to older adults in New Brunswick be evaluated at the community level?

Meet our team

health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke, share some of the same risk factors associated with dementia?

Risk factors like high cholesterol and high blood pressure don’t just affect our body’s health; they also put us at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia related diseases.

Did you know…

Risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s and dementia-related diseases include:

High blood pressure (hypertension)
High cholesterol
Diabetes
Cardiovascular (heart) disease
Stoke
Obesity

Poor diet
Poor sleep
Low physical activity
Family history of dementia
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or
Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI)

Why is this important?

The good news is that we can prevent or delay the onset of dementia by making daily lifestyle changes, like increased physical exercise, eating healthier and sleeping better. Halting or slowing the progression of dementia-- even if only by a few years -- could significantly improve the quality of life for older adults at risk of dementia.

As the world becomes more accustomed to virtual access and engagement, organizations could provide older adults with virtual exercise and brain health education tailored to the participant’s personal needs, logistics, and lifestyle.

What did our studies offer seniors that is different?

Physical and cognitive training and activities for older adults are often only accessible in clinical and private facilities. Cost, location, access to reliable transportation, and scheduling conflicts can hinder older adults from accessing these programs. Improving accessibility increases the likelihood of older adults incorporating these practices into their daily lives.

NB-PALM delivered participant-centred, supervised and interactive exercise and cognitive programs to participants in their own home virtually. This approach created opportunities to improve accessibility, provide flexible scheduling and collaborate with the participants to modify their sessions based on their needs and feedback.

How is NB-PALM’s research making an impact?

Objective 1 - In collaboration with older adults in New Brunswick: Identify ways to engage older adults in New Brunswick at risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia-related diseases.

The educational tools created by NB-PALM help spread awareness about brain health and make information about reducing their risk factors for dementia (and other health conditions) easily accessible to older adults. These tools also benefit healthcare and service providers, helping them engage and connect patients and clients to brain health resources and support networks.

Objective 2 - In collaboration with the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA): Pilot testing and feasibility analysis of bilingual brain health support programs and assessment tools that can reach all older adults regardless of geographic location.

NB-PALM’s research shows it is feasible to deliver interactive exercise programs to participants in a virtual environment which can improve accessibility, provide flexibility for scheduling, and increase the likelihood of older adults incorporating these practices into their daily lives.

Objective 3 - In collaboration with New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT): Develop community dementia risk profiles to target delivery of brain health initiatives

Our community risk profiles can assist in monitoring the overall dementia risk and trends in New Brunswick communities, and help communities and decision-makers to target future brain health programs where they might be most effective.

Visit NB-PALM’s “Our Research” page to learn more about our studies.

Partnerships

Research is a collaborative effort. NB-PALM works in partnership with several other research institutions and academic centres, including:

Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS)
Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA)
CAN-Thumbs Up
Cogniciti
New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data, and Training (NB-IRDT)
Western University (Ontario)
University of Toronto
Baycrest [Health Sciences]
McGill University
University of British Columbia