Research summary
Current anti-viral therapies help people with HIV to live longer—but patients can still experience a variety of long-term health- and age-related challenges. Dr. Kelly O’Brien, Canada Research Chair in Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation, is working to improve health outcomes for people living with HIV, long COVID and other chronic illnesses.
She and her research team are characterizing the episodic nature of disability experienced by people who suffer from chronic disease and other ailments as they age. They are working to understand why this happens and how prevalent it is. They are also developing and advancing the measurement properties of an episodic disability questionnaire. Ultimately, their aim is to establish and evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation strategies to improve health outcomes, programs, practices and policies related to chronic diseases like HIV and long COVID.