The purpose of the BE-WEL in CR-AF study is to develop and test a small-changes behavioural weight loss approach for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and obesity attending a cardiac rehabilitation program. This two-part study consists of (1) a qualitative investigation to explore barriers and facilitators to behavioural weight loss treatment among patients with AF and obesity, and (2) a randomized controlled trial to test whether patients who receive the behavioural weight loss component during their cardiac rehabilitation program, are more likely to lose 10% of their body weight than those who do cardiac rehab alone.

Recruitment for Part I is currently underway. Adults diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more are eligible to participate. If you meet these criteria and are interested in participating, please ask your cardiology healthcare team if you can be referred to this study.

If you have any questions, please contact behmed@ucalgary.ca.

This RCT is evaluating the efficacy of intranasal oxytocin versus placebo in improving outcomes among women with chronic pelvic pain. The primary objective is to investigate oxytocin’s efficacy in reducing pain among women with chronic pelvic pain. Secondary objectives include investigating oxytocin’s efficacy in improving emotional function, physical function, and sleep among these women.

We are recruiting patients who have gynaecologists at the Chronic Pain Centre. If you are interested in participating please speak with your gynaecologist.

For any questions regarding this study, please contact behmed@ucalgary.ca.

The purpose of the Small Changes in PsA study is to develop and test a small-changes behavioural weight loss approach for patients with PsA and obesity. This two-part study consists of (1) a qualitative investigation to explore barriers and facilitators to behavioural weight loss treatment among patients with PsA and obesity, and (2) a randomized controlled trial to test whether patients who participate in the behavioural weight loss program are more likely to lose weight compared with those who receive treatment as usual from their community rheumatology clinic.\n\nRecruitment for Part I is currently underway. This study is being done in collaboration with our principle investigator, Dr. Michelle Teo and co-investigator Dr. Lesley Lutes.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact Tamara Williamson or Sydney Seidel.

The Bariatric Outcome Enhancement - Evaluating a Mindfulness-based Program for Optimizing WEight loss and Reducing Eating Disorder Symptoms (BE-EMPOWERED) Study is a 3-phase program of research working to evaluate and optimize a brief mindfulness-based intervention among pre-surgical bariatric patients. This study follows the ORBIT Model by Czajkowski et al., 2015 for developing and testing behavioural treatments. Phase I results have been published on an open access journal.

This prospective study investigates the roles of various pre-surgical psychosocial variables on weight-loss and quality of life changes after bariatric (weight-loss) surgery. Patients complete a number of questionnaires inquiring about psychological distress, eating behaviours, and social factors (e.g., social support) prior surgery, and are following for 12-months after surgery. Understanding predictors of outcomes following bariatric surgery will help in patient selection, resource allocation, and identifying at-risk patients for appropriate psychosocial intervention to support outcomes after surgery.

Funding for this project was received by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities Grant. The purpose of this project is to design, develop, and test a brief web-based intervention to improve adherence to personal protective behaviours related to COVID-19 prevention among the Canadian general population, with a focus on physical distancing, face masks and vaccination, and to examine the differential effect of this approach among young adults (25 and younger) and males who are at higher risk for non-adherence to protective behaviours.

Please contact Sydney Seidel (sydney.seidel@ucalgary.ca) for any questions.

This study aims to investigate people’s attitudes and behaviours in response to the public health recommendations for social distancing and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many reports suggest suboptimal adherence to these measures that represent the cornerstone of efforts to reduce the spread of the virus. Public health recommendations are changing periodically, and we are interested in assessing how variations at different time points and geographic areas affect people’s responses during discrete periods of time and how attitudes and behaviours might differ as a function of messaging about preventing the transmission of COVID-19. This information will be made available to policymakers to tailor public health messages and recommendations with the goal of increasing adherence to these important preventive behaviours.

We are no longer recruiting participants for this study. Thank you to all who participated. This study has been published in PLoS One, an open-access peer-reviewed journal. Click here to see the results:

If you have any questions, contact Chelsea Moran or Tavis Campbell.

The MATCH study is an innovative preference-based comparative effectiveness trial examining Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery and Tai chi/Qigong for a host of psychological, physical, and biological outcomes in cancer survivors. For more information visit the study website.

APrON is an ongoing prospective cohort study that recruited pregnant women early in pregnancy. The vision of the study is to improve the health and long-term potential of mothers and newborn babies in Alberta. For more information, please visit the APrON study website.