Overview

Heart health begins at home and in the everyday care of the family doctor. Our care activities are designed to empower women to manage their own health with confidence, while also supporting their primary care providers with information and training. The Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre is working to improve care both locally and nationally by developing personalized, one-on-one programs as well as digital educational tools. See overview document.

CardioPrevent® Program

Program aimed at lowering cardiovascular risk in women and their families.

CardioPrevent is a screening and counselling program offered to women and their families within the CWHHC’s local catchment area of the Champlain region of Ontario. Preventing heart disease is often not on the radar of busy women and their doctors lack the time to provide counselling on lifestyle changes. Based on several years of study, CardioPrevent is designed to reach people who do not yet have cardiovascular disease but may be at higher risk due to genetic or lifestyle factors. Staff from the CWHHC work with primary care practitioners to identify patients at risk and then guide participants through a lifestyle program tailored to them. We meet patients where they live and work, provide information and counselling on risk factors and connect them to local resources.

IMPROVE Program

This post-pregnancy risk reduction program works to identify patients and develop prevention strategies that take into account the busy, tiring life of a new mother.

The IMPROVE program is conducted in partnership with The Ottawa Hospital Postpartum Vascular Risk Reduction Clinic. Obstetrical history provides unique insight into whether a woman is at risk for future cardiovascular disease. Pregnancy is often described as a "stress test" that helps identify women who are at risk of developing chronic diseases later in life. It is well established that women who have had a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia are at an increased risk of developing premature vascular disease as well as traditional vascular risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes). The mean age of onset of clinically recognized coronary artery disease was 38 years old in a landmark Canadian study of over a million women who have had a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia. Guidelines on cardiovascular risk management after a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy are lacking. Intervention strategies directed to new mothers must address their unique challenges. The IMPROVE program draws on the lessons learned from the CardioPrevent program model to develop best practices and strategies for prevention in post-partum women to share with hospitals and practitioners across Canada. 

Virtual Care Program

Online interactive health communication portal that will help women take control and manage their heart disease risk factors. It is a program for those at-risk of, or living with cardiovascular disease.

The Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre is dedicated to empowering women to be active managers of their own health and well-informed advocates for the best care. To make it easier for women to educate themselves about cardiovascular disease, the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre has developed an online health communication portal. This web-based platform gives patients access to the latest medical information and lifestyle advice. It encourages patients to share infomration and experiences, and helps them navigate the spectrum of medical care for various aspects of heart disease.

What can it do for me?

  • Ideal for individuals seeking fast and convenient health services
  • Increases accessibility to care in real time through health coaching and remote monitoring
  • Provides reliable and trusted health information
  • Enables/improves self-management of heart health behaviors
  • Access to a community of support among peers
  • To support informed decision making so your health plan is not decided without you.

Women@Heart Program 

Cardiovascular disease has serious physical, psychological and social ramifications for women, different from those found in men. 

A peer support program led by women with heart disease, for women with heart disease that aims to create a caring environment for women to learn from each other. The Women@Heart Program will provide women with heart disease, in every community, with access to emotional support, educational support and a caring environment for a better recovery after a cardiac event.
Peer leaders of the Women@Heart Program can help participants:

  • Reduce the risk of isolation and promote coping strategies
  • Better understand their condition
  • Be empowered to take charge of their heart health

To learn more or register, click here. 

 

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