Ep 9 - "Sizzle and Snake (Oil): Health Literacy in the Digital Age"
- S1E9
- 33:36
- March 19th 2020
Technology has transformed our access to medical and health information, for good and ill. Web search results put serious researchers and clinicians on the same 'stage' as digital snake oil salesmen, all fighting for people's limited attention. Add to this the growing importance of preventing and managing chronic conditions such as dementia, and the need for health literacy has never been greater.
Enter the health literacy innovators!
This episode, CABHI Managing Director Dr. Allison Sekuler sits down with three people that have taken on this challenge. Their projects, the Fountain of Health and iGeriCare, each combine digital technology with evidence-based health information to reach people with the information they need to stay healthy, and care for others, as they age.
Join us as we hear how detail-oriented researchers learn to add a little 'sizzle' to their 'steak', use the principles of behaviour change on both patients and their fellow clinicians, and win the battle to relegate snake oil to the bottom of the barrel.
Featuring special guests:
Dr. Anthony Levinson, Neuropsychiatrist, Director, Division of e-Learning Innovation, McMaster University
At the Division of e-Learning Innovation, Dr. Levinson exercises his passion for researching and developing online solutions to deliver high-quality health educational experiences to both the public and health care professionals. IGeriCare provides a unique opportunity to leverage his expertise in mental health and learning technologies to create a modern and engaging approach to dementia education. Dr. Levinson practices Medical Psychiatry, is an Associate Professor and holds the John Evans Chair in Health Sciences Educational Research and Instructional Development at McMaster University.
Dr. Keri-Leigh Cassidy, MD FRCPC, is a Professor of Geriatric Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, and the founder of the Fountain of Health™ Initiative for Optimal Aging. She is also the co-founder of the World Aging and Brain Health Institute, and Vice President of the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry. Dr. Cassidy is a national expert in late life mood disorders and psychotherapy teaching at the CAGP National Review Course in Geriatric Psychiatry, and author of Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for older adults. Dr. Cassidy received the 2016 Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry Award for Outstanding Contributions to Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada. She was the 2018 recipient of the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Betty Havens Prize for Knowledge Translation in Aging.
Dr. Michael Vallis, PhD. R. Psych
Dr. Vallis is a registered health psychologist practicing in Halifax, Canada. He is a Health Behaviour Change Consultant and Associate Professor in Family Medicine at Dalhousie University. His main areas of expertise are diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular risk and gastroenterology. He has worked in the public health system for 35 years and is now working as a consultant and doing private practice. He regularly supervises clinical and academic students at Dalhousie and is active in research on motivation, behavioural change and psychosocial adaptation to chronic disease. He consults nationally as well as internationally and is heavily involved in journal editing, clinical practice guidelines and academic publications. He was recently awarded a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Government of Canada on the recommendation of Diabetes Canada.
Recommended resources:
Dr. Levinson: iGericare: https://igericare.ca McMaster Optimal Aging Portal: http://mcmasteroptimalaging.org MedlinePlus: https://medlineplus.gov/
Dr. Cassidy: Fountain of Health: https://fountainofhealth.ca/ Canadian Coalition for Seniors Mental Health: https://ccsmh.ca/
Dr. Vallis: Behaviour Change Institute: http://www.behaviourchangeinstitute.ca Canadian Network for Health Behaviour Change and Promotion: https://can-change.ca/
CABHI's Community of Innovation Podcast
CABHI’s Community of Innovation podcast is where topics on ingenuity, aging and brain health collide. Join us as we talk to experts in healthcare, research, technology and business, as well as older adults and their caregivers, about the innovative practices and healthtech solutions helping us all lead longer, healthier lives.
Dr. Allison Sekuler (FSEP, FPsyS, FAPS) is President and Chief Scientist at the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). A graduate of Pomona College (BA, Mathematics and Psychology) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Psychology), Dr. Sekuler is also President and Chief Scientist and the Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, Professor at the University of Toronto, and Professor Emerita at McMaster University.
Dr. Sekuler has a notable record of scientific achievements in aging, vision science, cognitive neuroscience, and neurotechnology; and her translational research aims to develop methods to prevent, detect, and treat age-related sensory and cognitive decline. She has won numerous research and innovation leadership awards, including being the first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience (2001-2011) and one of WXN’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada (2019). Dr. Sekuler has a long record of executive leadership, and currently chairs the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council’s Public Impact Value Proposition committee; serves on the Board of Governors for Hamilton Health Sciences and BrainsCAN; is a founding Steering Committee member of the Canadian Brain Research Strategy, a Scientific Mentor in CDL’s Neuro stream, and advisor for SXSW Pitch.
In her spare time, she is proving that you’re never too old to learn: Dr. Sekuler picked up her first drumsticks a few years ago, and recently earned her Professional Drums Certificate from the Berklee College of Music.
Dr. Rosanne Aleong is the Director of Research, Innovation, and Translation at CABHI. She also serves as the Executive Director of Research, Innovation, and Translation at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. She received her MSc and PhD in Neurological Sciences from McGill University, with her research focusing on inflammatory models of neurodegenerative disease; and body image and visual perception among adolescents and young adults. She has 20+ years of experience in neuroscience and brain health research across the lifespan.
In her current role at CABHI, she: (1) manages a support and services hub, enabling healthcare professionals, researchers, educators, not-for-profit organizations, and industry in conducting applied and evaluative research as well as innovation implementation and validation; (2) focuses on CABHI knowledge translation and knowledge mobilization initiatives; and 3) executive produces and co-hosts the CABHI Community of Innovation Podcast.