IPA Bulletin

Where Are They Now?
How the IPA Research Award Influenced a Winner’s Career Development

Michel Bédard
Second Place, 1997 IPA Research Awards in Psychogeriatrics

[Editor’s note: For the next few issues, we will publish “Where Are They Now?”, a series of articles by former IPA Research Award winners and IPA Research Scholars, who will share with us what they are doing and describe ways in which IPA recognition has influenced their careers. From 1989 to 1999 the IPA Research Awards were sponsored and supported by Bayer AG. The IPA Research Scholar Program was sponsored and supported by Pfizer Central Research, Pfizer Inc]

Winning the IPA/Bayer Research Award has had a profound influence on the development of my career. A budding researcher at the time, I was working with Willie Molloy at McMaster University and had just started my doctoral studies in September 1996. Through experience at Dr. Molloy’s Memory Clinic, I was becoming increasingly concerned by the substantial burden carried by caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment. This led me to examine what variables were related to burden. It became apparent to me that we knew very little of variables associated with increases or decreases in burden over time, and that ultimately, this is what we needed to know if we were to devise useful interventions for caregivers. With the idea in mind, I took advantage of the fantastic research setting offered by Dr. Molloy’s clinic and produced the manuscript that led to the Research Award. I liked the manuscript and believed it was publishable. When I submitted the paper for consideration, my real hope was to get the paper published in International Psychogeriatrics. The Award was a fantastic bonus.

The main finding reported in the paper was that changes in behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) were directly related to changes in caregiver burden. Another interesting finding was that male caregivers were more likely to report reductions in burden than female caregivers (Bédard, Molloy, Pedlar, Lever, & Stones. 1997). These findings have led me to examine further the heterogeneity of caregivers, and how the experience of caregivers can vary considerably. This heterogeneity must be considered from clinical and research perspectives. I have published two papers on this issue since (Bédard, Chambers, Molloy, Lever, Stones, & Martin. 1999; Bédard, Pedlar, Martin, Malott, & Stones. In press), and more are submitted and in preparation.

While caregiver burden remains a primary research interest of mine, I actively research other issues related to cognitive impairment in older adults. These include ability to drive (Bédard, Molloy, Guyatt, Stones, & Strang. 1997; Bédard, Molloy, & Lever. 1998), nutrition (Bédard, Molloy, Bell, & Lever. In press), and methodological/statistical issues in the study of older adults (Bédard, Bonner, Molloy, Martin, & Stones. in press; Bédard, Martin, Krueger, & Brazil. In press; Bédard, Molloy, Guyatt, & Standish. 1998; Bédard, Molloy, Standish, et al. 1995).

Now, two years after the award, my career looks radically different than it did at the time. My doctoral studies are almost over (I am finalizing my dissertation), I have been recruited as Director of Research for the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital in Ontario, Canada, and offered a cross-appointment with the Department of Psychology of Lakehead University. I had 19 peer-reviewed publications prior to 1997; this has doubled to 38 in less than three years and, as I write this update, I am the primary or co-author of another 15 manuscripts submitted for publication. The IPA Research Award was my fourth publication as primary author; this number now stands at 12. The Award has given me credibility and allowed me to establish myself as an independent researcher before completion of my doctorate. It has opened doors sooner than I had hoped.

I feel privileged to have been surrounded by several individuals who have nurtured my research ambitions. I don’t think I would have produced the work I stand proud of without their contribution. Especially important in the development of my career and the winning of the Award are my mentors, Drs. Gordon Guyatt, Willie Molloy, and Mike Stones. My wife, Dr. Lori Chambers, remains my most ardent ally and supporter. I thank them all, the International Psychogeriatric Association, and Bayer AG for the opportunities they have provided me.

References

Bédard, M., Bonner, A., Molloy, D.W., Martin, N.J., & Stones, M.J. (in press). In-home assessments of Alzheimer's patients: Reliability and validity of instruments measuring cognition and mood. Clinical Gerontologist.

Bédard, M., Chambers, L., Molloy, D.W., Lever, J.A., Stones, M.J., & Martin, N.J. (1999). The impact of Alzheimer's disease on caregivers is gender-specific. Annals of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, 32, 21-28. Bédard, M., Martin, N.J., Krueger, P., & Brazil, K. (in press). Assessing reproducibility of data obtained with instruments based on continuous measurements. Experimental Aging Research.

Bédard, M., Molloy, D.W., Bell, R., & Lever, J.A. (in press). Determinants and detection of low body mass index in community-dwelling adults with Alzheimer's disease. International Psychogeriatrics.

Bédard, M., Molloy, D.W., Guyatt, G.H., & Standish, T. (1998). Self-administered and interviewer-administered instruments for dementia research. Clinical Gerontologist, 19, 25-35.

Bédard, M., Molloy, D.W., Guyatt, G.H., Stones, M.J., & Strang, D.S. (1997). Competency to drive in cognitively impaired older adults. Annals of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, 30, 346-352.

Bédard, M., Molloy, D.W., & Lever, J.A. (1998). Factors associated with motor vehicle crashes in cognitively impaired older adults. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 12, 135-139.

Bédard, M., Molloy, D.W., Pedlar, D., Lever, J.A., & Stones, M.J. (1997). Associations between dysfunctional behaviors, gender and burden in spousal caregivers of cognitively impaired older adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 9, 277-290.

Bédard, M., Molloy, D.W., Standish, T.I.M., Guyatt, G.H., D'Souza, J., Mondadori, C., & Darzins, P. (1995). Clinical trials in cognitively impaired older adults: Home versus clinic assessments. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43, 1127-1130.

Bédard, M., Pedlar, D., Martin, N.J., Malott, O., & Stones, M.J. (in press). Burden in caregivers of cognitively impaired older adults living in the community: Methodological considerations and determinants. International Psychogeriatrics.

 

Michel Bédard, MSc, is affiliated with Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, P.O. Box 2930, 580 North Algoma Street, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5G4 Canada (tel: 807 343 4300, ext. 4403, fax: 807 343 4387, e-mail: mbedard@baynet.net). He received Second Place in the 1997 IPA Research Awards competition for his paper, “Associations Between Dysfunctional Behaviors, Gender, and Burden in Spousal Caregivers of Cognitively Impaired Older Adults.”

Michel Bédard ---------------------------

Reprinted from IPA Bulletin, Volume 17, Number 1