Working with Indigenous communities to improve heart health through digital innovation

Left: Dr. Heather Ross, co-lead, TRANSFORM HF and Head, Division of Cardiology Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at UHN; Back middle: Dr. Elaine Innes, Chief of Staff, WAHA; Right: Sandra Kioke, Senior Vice President, Clinical and Community Care and Chief Nursing Executive, WAHA; Front middle: Anne Simard, Director of Strategy, TRANSFORM HF and Translation and Staff Scientist, UHN. (Photo: Heather Ross, Communications Officer, WAHA)

Since 2017, TRANSFORM Heart Failure (TRANSFORM HF) has been engaged in respectful relationship building between Toronto-based cardiovascular researchers and the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) in Northern Ontario. A five-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2023 between WAHA and the University Health Network’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC@UHN) deepens that collaboration, which aims to transform how heart failure is treated in remote communities.

WAHA provides healthcare to six communities throughout the James and Hudson Bay region. The majority of people living in the region’s coastal communities are of proud Cree lineage. Limited access to specialized cardiac care means that many of them must travel hundreds of kilometres south for treatment.

Dr. Heather Ross is the Head of the Division of Cardiology at PMCC@UHN and the co-lead of TRANSFORM HF. Over the past several years, she and other researchers have been supporting WAHA in providing care for patients in Moosonee, Moose Factory, Fort Albany, Peawanuck and Attawapiskat remotely. One of their key tools is Medly, a digital therapeutic platform for remote monitoring of heart failure, which earned Ross UHN’s Inventor of the Year award in 2022.

Their work has been enhanced by learnings from two sharing circles held in 2022 and 2023, which led to a published study on community-based strategies to support heart health in First Nations communities.

Under the new MOU, the team plans to spread their care model to all WAHA communities, and to continue to co-create and field test digital health innovations.

To learn more about TRANSFORM HF, watch Transform Heart Failure, an episode of the Groundbreakers video series.