Recruiting Eligible and Interested Study Participants With Cognitive Impairment

Recruiting and enrolling older adults with cognitive impairment is challenging under the best of circumstances. This symposium will begin with an introduction to best practices for recruitment of older adults living with cognitive impairment, followed by four presentations describing recruitment successes and challenges across multiple settings. The first presentation describes COVID-19 pandemic-related factors that have influenced recruitment and enrollment of older adults with cognitive impairment in an intervention study of a physical activity smartphone app. Strategies and procedural alterations to facilitate achievement of enrollment goals for technology-based interventions are discussed. The second presentation describes researchers’ recruiting experiences with older adults with mild cognitive impairment (oaMCI)-care partner dyads for a pilot, platform trial of biopsychosocial interventions. There were differences in study disinterest between oaMCI and study partners that may require specialized communication messaging and strategies for dyad engagement. The third presentation features recruitment adaptations for an Internet-delivered behavioral intervention study with oaMCI and insomnia. Anticipated concerns of oaMCI using technology or accessing the Internet were not significant barriers to recruitment, while fewer oaMCI endorsed sleep concerns than expected. The last presentation demonstrates the potential for telephone-based outreach to increase dementia knowledge and cognitive risk. Working with faith-based health educators to reach rural, ethnically-diverse older adults, researchers will describe how to promote inclusivity and successfully recruit oaMCI within the community. Presenters and participants are encouraged to dialogue on how recruitment and retention barriers may be avoided as well as to share success stories from their own research with oaMCI.

Quantitative analysis of debris torrent hazards for design of remedial measures

Debris torrents, which are rapid flows of soil and organic debris down steep mountain channels, are a major natural hazard in many parts of British Columbia.A series of recent occurrences along the Squamish Highway, north of Vancouver, led the provincial government to initiate a systematic study of debris torrents in this area. This 2 year study involved hazard risk assessment and resulted in the design of a comprehensive system of remedial measures comprising debris retention barriers and basins, channel improvements and diversions, and the reconstruction of bridges. It was necessary in the course of this effort to formulate new design procedures covering the dynamic behaviour of debris torrents, as there was no accepted practical methodology suitable for Western Canadian conditions.This paper provides an approach to determining magnitude (volume of debris material involved), frequency, peak discharge, velocity, conditions for deposition, runout distance, behaviour in bends and run-up against barriers, and dynamic thrust and impact loadings. The procedures are based on some of the more practical concepts available in the specialized literature, supplemented by simple original theories and calibrated against several recent debris torrent events from British Columbia for which sufficiently detailed observational data exists. To be generally applicable, the procedures require a wider and more thorough calibration. They are presented here as working hypotheses that can be used as a guide to the assembly of additional data and provide a rational design tool to supplement the application of experience and judgement. Key words: debris torrents, debris flows, slope hazards, landslide dynamics, remedial measures, engineering design.