Participate in a Study

Overview

Food insecurity – a lack of safe and adequate access to healthy food – affects numerous households across Canada. As a result of limited access to food, children in these households can experience significant health impacts, like poor diet quality, disrupted growth and development, and poor mental health. These factors are amplified for children who have undergone transplantation. However, little is known about food insecurity in households with children who have undergone transplantation.

Researchers out of the University of Alberta aim to address this gap in knowledge. They hope to:

1. Define what contributes to household food insecurity and

2. Understand the impact food insecurity has on children’s mental health, diet quality, and quality of life.

3. Identify/develop strategies and interventions to address food insecurity in Canadian households with children who receive organ transplants

Participation

If you would like to participate in this study, please complete the 10-15 minute survey in your preferred language:

• ENGLISH: https://redcap.ualberta.ca/surveys/?s=PKDX8DHEEMFJN9XK

• FRENCH: https://redcap.ualberta.ca/surveys/?s=WFMDEWYXXADN3MC4

Note: At the end of the survey, you can leave your email address if you’re interested in joining the phase 2 of the study (a 2.5-hr interview).

Eligibility

• Be a parent or caregiver to a child or youth (0-19 years old) who has received a transplant (liver, kidney, or other organs).

• Be a youth (12-19 years old) who has received a solid organ transplant

The study is open to participants nation-wide.

Study Contact

If you have any questions, please contact Diana Mager at mager@ualberta.ca.

This study was approved by the University of Alberta’s Research Ethics Board: Pro00144464

Overview

• Despite vaccination, transplant recipients remain at high risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes.

• Recipients, families, and caregivers are also at higher risk of experiencing extreme stress and mental health concerns and bearing additional financial burdens.

• Transplant recipients are often excluded from studies on COVID-19 due to challenges with study design, creating a lack of information and data.

For these reasons, the TREAT-COVID study aims to address these barriers by understanding how COVID-19 continues to affect child and/or adult transplant recipients and their families or caregivers living in Canada. This is in hopes of creating a flexible national plan to inform better policies and improve patient health.

For more information about this study, please visit: https://cdtrp.ca/en/treatcovid/

Eligibility

• Be an organ or stem cell transplant recipient, or

• Be a caregiver of an organ or stem cell transplant recipient*

• Be followed by one of the participating transplant centres

*Please note that for a family member/caregiver wanting to enroll, the transplant recipient they care for must be enrolled in the study first.

Study Participation

Participating in this study will provide useful information about COVID-19 treatments and issues to policymakers, clinicians, and patients and their families.

This study is currently open to participants in British Columbia, Northern Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. Please enrol through the link associated with your region:

• British Columbia and Yukon: https://bit.ly/3WRUrqD

• Northern Alberta: https://bit.ly/40Ix8Rj

• Ontario: https://bit.ly/4kfqTMW

• Quebec: https://bit.ly/4j9YGGA

• Chinese Renal Association: https://bit.ly/3Q8G8KF

• All other regions: https://bit.ly/3EA8n26

Study Contact

If you have any questions about this study, please contact Manuel Escoto at mescoto@cdtrp.ca.

This study was approved by the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board (lead institution): Pro00131530

As food costs rise in Canada, many turn to cheaper and more readily available processed foods, which can be high in salt and sugar and increase the risk of chronic diseases. Researchers at the University of Alberta are studying the impact of food insecurity on the diets and kidney health of Canadian adults with CKD.

Your participation will help inform interventions and policies to prevent food insecurity and its health implications in this population.

To be eligible, you must:

• Be between 18-80 years old

• Be able to provide consent

• Have a diagnosis of stage 1-5 chronic kidney disease

• Be able to communicate in English

• Not be on dialysis

Participants will be asked to complete a 3-day food record, collect receipts for two weeks’ worth of food, answer questionnaires about their food habits and quality of life, and attend online interviews with the study investigators. The total time required is estimated to be 3 hours.

This study is only available in English and will continue until December 2025. It has received approval through the Health Research Ethics Board – Health Panel, University of Alberta (Pro00132239).

Should you have any questions, please contact:

Dr. Diana Mager PhD RD
780-492-7687
mager@ualberta.ca

If you or someone you know has experience with home dialysis OR have advanced chronic kidney disease (stage 4 or 5) and are not on dialysis, you are invited to be a patient partner in an ongoing study at the University of Manitoba.

The Home First project aims to provide comprehensive support and education to CKD patients, with dedicated experts by their side to guide them through their healthcare journey. The goal of the program is to offer everyone the opportunity to experience home dialysis and help address barriers that may exist.

As a patient partner you would be considered a member of the project research team. Your contributions may include reviewing educational material, sharing your experience with home dialysis, or helping guide the project.

Patient partners must be able to speak English and be a resident of Manitoba.

This study will be ongoing until 2027.

Should you have any questions, please contact the research team:

Rachel Girimonte
1(204)-632-3667
rgirimonte@sogh.mb.ca

This study received approval from the Health Research Ethics Board (HREB), study number H2023: 359.

MEDSKL is a free, open-access medical education platform that is recruiting patient volunteers to share their story with medical students through a live webinar series called "Patient Perspectives".

This is an opportunity for individuals in The Kidney Foundation community to teach future physicians about kidney disease from the perspective of their lived experience. The webinar will be 1 hour in length and hosted on Zoom on a weeknight evening of your choice.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please sign-up using the online form or contact MEDSKL at www.medskl.com/contact.