Harper Government Partners with Elsevier Canada and C-CHANGE Initiative to improve cardiovascular patient care

C-CHANGE will deliver new prevention, management and treatment tools

TORONTO, March 28, 2013 /CNW/ - Dr. Colin Carrie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, today announced on behalf of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, an investment to support health care providers who treat Canadians for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

"The vision of this project is to give health care providers better information and tools to improve patient care, and to support cardiovascular disease patients with tools to help them improve their own health," said Parliamentary Secretary Carrie. "This is another example of an innovative partnership between the Government of Canada, the private and not-for-profit sectors to take an integrated approach to preventing and managing chronic diseases."

The Canadian Cardiovascular Harmonized National Guidelines Endeavour (C-CHANGE) is a two-phase project. In phase one, eight guideline organizations joined in 2011 to produce Canada's first harmonized CVD prevention and management guidelines for use in primary care. Phase two is a partnership of the federal government and the private and not-for-profit sectors. Together they will implement C-CHANGE as a nationally coordinated, harmonized and integrated strategy for the prevention and treatment of CVD by addressing risks such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes.

"The C-CHANGE initiative will help improve public health practices in the field of cardiovascular health throughout Canada," said Dr. Peter Liu, National Director, C-CHANGE.

"Elsevier Canada is pleased to be a partner in this initiative and to offer our significant expertise in building web-based, education tools," said Marc Thibodeau, Senior Vice President, Elsevier Canada.

Phase two activities include developing an online intervention program for clinicians treating patients with CVD. The online Clinical Resource Centre will support health care providers in their efforts to use the harmonized guideline in the practice setting. There will also be a Patient Self-Management Tool to encourage CVD patients to implement their own risk reduction behaviours.

The Government of Canada is committed to working collaboratively across all sectors to promote programs and activities that support healthy living, physical activity and chronic disease prevention. For more information on physical activity, please visit http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/pa-ap/index-eng.php

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FACT SHEET                                                                                                                                                                    MARCH 2013

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HEALTHY LIVING:
PUBLIC - PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR HEALTHIER LIVING

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Promoting better cardiovascular health for Canadians

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including healthy eating and regular physical activity, plays an important role in the health of Canadians who live with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The Government of Canada is advancing innovative partnerships, which include the private sector and health care providers, to give Canadians living with CVD information and tools to manage their health and prevent other related chronic diseases. This is being accomplished through the Canadian Cardiovascular Harmonized National Guidelines Endeavour (C-CHANGE) project, in collaboration with Elsevier Canada and the University Health Network (UHN).

C-CHANGE is a national project and will benefit clinicians and their CVD patients across Canada. The goals of C-CHANGE are to:

• Implement the harmonized clinical practice guidelines (harmonization of guidelines were completed in phase one in 2011) to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease (CVD).
• Improve the heart health of Canadians by providing the primary health care community with a comprehensive approach to CVD that addresses risks such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes.
• Provide the health care community with tools to apply the harmonized guidelines in the practice setting, and CVD patients with a self-management tool to implement their own risk reduction behaviours.

The Public Health Agency of Canada will invest $154,000 in C-CHANGE to the end of 2014. Elsevier Canada will provide $162,000, in addition to $50,000 per year to cover the costs of web hosting and supplementary content and resource updates. The UHN has provided the expertise to harmonize the clinical practice recommendations for CVD.

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SOURCE: Public Health Agency of Canada

Media Inquiries:
Public Health Agency of Canada
Media Relations
[phone]

Health Canada
Cailin Rodgers
Office of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq
Federal Minister of Health
[phone]