Team Leader: Kathy McGilton
The goal of Team Optimize research is to prevent cognitive and functional decline of persons requiring rehabilitation by focusing on restoring function and enabling independence for adults through the optimization of the health care system and the home environment. The results of their research will lead to 1) maintaining or improving the ability of patients to function independently, 2) improving health-related quality of life, and, 3) reduce unnecessary service utilization and associated costs.
The researchers within this team understand that individuals with these complex conditions require an interdisciplinary solution to their care and deserve access to rehabilitation care; they create solutions to improve outcomes such as: a clinic for older adults with complex conditions who have genitourinary cancer, increasing exercise among hemodialysis patients and their caregivers, patient-centred rehabilitation models for persons with cognitive impairment, drama-based interventions to address the stigma of dementia and interprofessional clinics using telemedicine focused on chronic pain management. Their research strives to create the most effective health care systems, programs and approaches to caring for patients with complex (i.e. mental, physical, cognitive and social) conditions.