Cognition

Cognition is part of the "personal and social skills" subdimension. In cases of cognitive difficulties, quality of life, well-being, functioning and autonomy may be affected. Cognition can be defined as the set of mental processes related to, among other things, memory, attention, language and executive functions. Various health problems can disrupt cognitive abilities and disease patterns vary depending on the disease or underlying condition (Health Canada, 2015). Among the diseases that most affect cognitive function is dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, whose prevalence is constantly increasing in Quebec and Canada. Dementia affects approximately half a million people across the country (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2017; MSSS, 2018).

The committee focuses primarily on the evaluation of cognition from a general perspective without placing any particular emphasis on the various cognitive disorders and neurological diseases. As the committee's work is currently underway, more information will be added soon.

PULSAR has developed a conceptual framework for exploring and identifying the best ways to measure and evaluate specific aspects of sustainable health. This framework makes it possible to take stock of existing tools and measures and categorize and classify them according to various criteria such as ease of use, complexity, and implementation cost. Once established by consensus by our committees, this system will provide a quick overview of the tools and measures proposed by PULSAR for each dimension of interest. The conceptual framework is re-evaluated annually to allow the committees to make improvements so it can be used to develop multiple indicators of sustainable health.