Cardiovascular Health in Ambulatory Care Research Team (CANHEART)
The CANHEART initiative was launched in 2012 with support from a new 5 year ICRH-CIHR Team Grant focused on Chronic Disease Risk and Intervention Strategies. Led by Dr. Jack Tu, the research team involves over 20 investigators affiliated with ICES from 5 Ontario universities. A list of CANHEART investigators is provided on the CANHEART website. The CANHEART initiative builds upon lessons learned from the award-winning Canadian Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Team (CCORT) initiative.
Objectives
- To improve the outpatient care provided to patients with cardiovascular risk factors and/or chronic conditions
- To stimulate health system changes and quality improvement activities, resulting in better patient outcomes
The ICRH/CIHR grant supports 3 core studies:
- Developing indicators of high-quality outpatient care measurable using large, population-based databases in Ontario
- Studying how differences in how care is provided influences differences in the rates of new cardiovascular events in Ontario's local health integration networks (LHINs/subLHINs)
- Developing and releasing novel public report cards and preparing academic papers, describing how outpatient cardiac and stroke care are delivered across different regions in Ontario
Additional grant support from the Public Health Agency of Canada is supporting research on ethnic disparities in the burden of cardiovascular diseases in Ontario.
CANHEART has also been working with the Heart and Stroke Foundation to develop the CANHEART cardiovascular health index for monitoring population health.
CANHEART hosts an annual summer student training program to train students in the field of cardiovascular outcomes research.