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What's New Events 2023 CIMVHR Forum

2023 CIMVHR Forum

For Veterans and Families, by Veterans and Families

At the Atlas Institute, we embed the perspectives and wisdom of lived experience in everything we do. We work with Veterans and Families from the CAF and the RCMP to bridge the gap between research and practice, ensuring they receive the best possible mental health care and support.

The people we serve inform what research we undertake and the information we share.

Visit our booth and attend our podium and poster presentations to learn more about how, together, we are creating positive change for Veterans and Families across Canada.

October 16-18, 2023
Ottawa | Gatineau

Every year, the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) hosts an annual forum that brings together hundreds of researchers, policy makers, service providers, peer support organizations and intermediary organizations to present the latest health research focused on military and Veteran health.

This year, the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families is participating for the second time since our inception. Our goal is to continue strengthening our networks and explore potential collaborations on both national and international scales. At the same time, we aim to share information and raise awareness about our research in the Veteran and Family mental health and well-being space. A key focus for us at the CIMVHR Forum 2023 is to continue advocating for the practice of bringing the experiences of Veterans and their Families forward in conversations about issues that affect them.

If you are attending the CIMVHR Forum 2023, we invite you to visit our booth and attend our podium and poster presentations to learn more about how, together, we are creating positive change for Veterans and Families across Canada.

Posters:

Identity-based trauma and moral injury: Minority stress as a potentially morally injurious event

  • Presenter: Andrew Nicholson, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, and Clinical Research Director, the Atlas Institute
  • Summary: Moral injury is a trauma syndrome that can emerge following perceived violations of deep moral beliefs by oneself or trusted individuals. This study examined the impact of sexual orientation minority stress (i.e., discrimination) on moral injury symptoms. Here, we will discuss novel themes surrounding moral injury development among sexual minorities.

Co-creating an evidence-informed mental health education hub for young Family members of Veterans living with an operational stress injury: An overview of the process and key lessons learned

  • Presenter: Victoria Carmichael, MSc, Senior Knowledge Mobilization Specialist, the Atlas Institute
  • Summary: This abstract summarizes the co-creation process and highlights key lessons learned from a recent project involving the development of an evidence-informed resource hub (MindKit.ca) with youth from Canadian military and Veteran Families. This information could be useful to inform future engagement work with youth.

Podiums:

Effects of adversity on brain function: Evidence from a meta-analysis of fMRI studies

  • Presenter: Niki Hosseini-Kamkar, PhD, Neuroimaging Research Associate, the Atlas Institute
  • Date/time: Wednesday, October 18, 3:35 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.
  • Session: 7A05
  • Summary: Experiencing trauma increases risk for developing various psychological problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here, we analyzed data from 83 neuroimaging studies. We found that experiencing trauma is linked with heightened amygdala reactivity and reduced prefrontal cortex activity (PFC). The amygdala is involved in processing threats, while PFC is involved in self-regulation and decision-making.

A tale of two targets: Differential effects of posterior cingulate cortex- and amygdala-targeted neurofeedback on posttraumatic stress disorder-related neural activation

  • Presenter: Jonathan Lieberman, BSc, PhD student, Neuroscience, McMaster University, under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Nicholson
  • Date/time: Tuesday, October 17, 10:45 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.
  • Session: 3D01
  • Summary: We compared brain activity and clinical outcomes between two neurofeedback studies in which individuals with PTSD downregulated amygdala or posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activity. Evidence suggests that downregulating the PCC, as opposed to the amygdala, may be more effective for reducing PTSD symptoms and normalizing PTSD-associated alterations in brain activity.

Psychological trauma and the embodied self: Resting-state functional connectivity of the temporoparietal junction in posttraumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype

  • Presenter: Sandhya Narikuzhy, BSc, PhD candidate, Neuroscience, McMaster University, under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Nicholson
  • Date/time: Wednesday, October 18, 11:15 a.m. – 11:35 a.m.
  • Session: 6C01
  • Summary: Bodily self-consciousness is often compromised in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This could be due to functional alterations in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), a brain region involved in multisensory integration. We wondered if functional connections of the TPJ might differ between PTSD and its dissociative subtype from healthy controls.

Co-designing resources related to intimate partner violence with members of the Veteran community

  • Presenter: Cath Virelli, MHSc, Senior Knowledge Mobilization Specialist, the Atlas Institute
  • Date/time: Monday, October 16, 11:20 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.
  • Session: 1D02
  • Summary: The Atlas Institute co-designed multimedia resources about intimate partner violence with members of the Veteran community. The resources reflect needs and lived experiences shared by these individuals. The resource development process suggests opportunities for optimizing projects that aim to meaningfully integrate the lived experiences of Veterans and Veteran Families. 

How do we better measure housing in Veterans? Results of a review to identify and characterize available instruments

  • Presenter: Sara Rodrigues, Ph.D., Director, Applied Research, the Atlas Institute
  • Date/time: Monday, October 16, 5:20 p.m. – 5:40 p.m.
  • Session: 2B05
  • Summary: Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)’s well-being framework comprises seven domains, including housing and physical environment. This particular domain includes “the built environment (e.g. housing) as well as the natural environment (e.g. water and air quality),” with the desired outcome of “safe, adequate and affordable housing” (Pound, 2019). While VAC currently measures this domain using a single indicator – the percentage of Veterans among Canadian homeless – housing and physical environment is much broader and spans characteristics beyond just homelessness. Measures of housing and physical environment implemented across the literature are quite varied (Rautio et al., 2018), and there is no consensus on a standard measurement tool. This presentation will share the results of a review to identify and characterize instruments that measure this domain, report on their psychometric properties, and identify which provide the best reliability, validity and usefulness for Veterans and their Families.

Differences in self-reported mental health among Canadian Veterans: A comparative analysis of data from the Life After Service Survey and Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

  • Presenter: Kate MacEachern, PhD, Senior Research Associate, the Atlas Institute
  • Date/time: Tuesday, October 17, 2:30 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
  • Session: 4B01
  • Summary: According to data from the Life After Service Survey (LASS), 29% of Veterans of the Regular Force reported fair or poor mental health in 2019 (Sweet et al., 2020). This is significantly higher than the 9% of the Canadian population reporting fair or poor mental health in the 2019 Canadian Community Health Survey (Statistics Canada, 2020). Given the implications of such a high prevalence of poor mental health for the Veteran community, it is important to substantiate the mental health status of Veterans in Canada and to identify potential risk or protective factors. The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) includes a Veteran subsample and provides an opportunity to explore the self-reported mental health in a Veteran sample. The purpose of this study will be to: i) determine if prevalence of self-reported mental health is similar for the Veteran cohort in the CLSA compared to LASS and ii) evaluate if socio-demographic, behavioural and health factors are differentially associated with self-reported mental health in the CLSA Veteran cohort compared to the LASS.
October 16-18, 2023
Ottawa | Gatineau

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