Catalyst Grant Recipients 2023-2024

Kara Patterson and Avril Mansfield

Walking and balance function are essential for completing daily activities safely and independently. COVID may impact balance and walking in two ways. First, coronaviruses can infect the nervous system which could affect how the brain controls walking and balance. Second, Long COVID can affect cognitive functions (like attention), which are required for walking and balance. We will measure participants’ balance and walking multiple times over one year, and interview them to learn about their perspectives on their mobility. This study is an important step to understanding if Long COVID changes balance and walking, which can inform future rehabilitation intervention studies.

Shlomit Rotenberg, Susie Goulding, Katie Churchill, Malcolm Binns, and Mor Nahum

This study aims to understand how cognitive impairment affects psychological experiences during daily activities, such as pleasure, competence, or social connection. Using a mobile application, 100 adults and older adults with long COVID will respond to short surveys, five times daily, over one week. They will be asked about their daily activities; the psychological experience during these activities; and the level of cognitive impairment. This study will improve our understanding of the relationship between cognitive and functional problems experienced by people with long COVID and will be used to advocate for a rehabilitation plan to address their needs.

Tiana Simic and Kathleen Fraser

Long-COVID affects roughly 1.4 million Canadians, and results in debilitating long-term symptoms.  These include fatigue, cognitive- and communicative dysfunction, such as word-finding difficulties and trouble following conversations. These difficulties are subtle and not easily captured via standard cognitive testing. Based on studies in preclinical dementia and concussion, one effective way of identifying subtle deficits is through automated computational analysis of language samples (e.g., story retelling). This study aims to use automated machine learning methods to analyse and compare the language production of individuals with- and without long-COVID. It is the first known study to explicitly address communication needs in long-COVID.