Grant: Catalyst Grant: eHealth Innovations

While a healthy lifestyle is essential in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the majority of Canadians treated for hypertension or cholesterol problems remain overweight and sedentary. In Canada, there is currently a shortage of primary care physicians. Furthermore, many physicians have little training in helping their patients make healthy lifestyle changes. Non-medical health professionals such as nurses, nutritionists, psychologists, and kinesiologists are well trained in helping individuals modify their behaviour. However, they often do not have access to the health records of their patients or the clinical tools to translate healthy behaviours, such as increasing physical activity, into meaningful health outcomes, such as a reduction in blood lipids, blood glucose, blood pressure, or the risk future risk of CVD. A web-based e-health program could offer a potential solution to fill the gap and support non-medical health professionals to become more effective at cardiovascular prevention. We will evaluate the impact of a web-based e-health intervention, used by non-medical professionals, to improve the management of cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension, dyslipidemia, cigarette smoking, excess body weight, and a sedentary lifestyle. The intervention will include a cardiovascular risk assessment providing the individual with their Cardiovascular Age. Individuals will be offered a one year subscription to a multidisciplinary, web-based, e-health promotion program to improve the management of CVD risk factors, increase their physical activity, and track their progress in managing their risk factors and reducing their Cardiovascular Age. Changes in daily exercise levels, CVD risk factors, and Cardiovascular Age, will be examined over the next 6 months.