February is heart month and a perfect opportunity to take control of your heart health. Are you a woman, or know a woman who:
• has family history of heart disease, hypertension or diabetes/pre-diabetes?
• is a smoker?
• is overweight ?
If you or a woman you know has two or more of these chronic conditions, the Heart Program for Women at B.C. Women’s Hospital helps women make positive changes in their lives to improve their heart health. Since inception in early 2009, program participants have decreased their blood pressure, lost weight and improved their eating habits.
Women who participate in the program receive risk-factor screening and stratification; personalized goal setting and a treatment plan; one-hour consultation with the nurse practitioner; and ongoing follow-up and support as necessary. Clients in the program have lowered their blood pressure by statistically significant amounts, lost weight and made at least one positive change to their eating habits.
B.C. Women’s Hospital & Health Centre, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority, provides services for pregnant women, newborns and women with specialized health needs from across the province.
B.C. Women’s is an academic health centre affiliated with the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the Women’s Health Research Institute. For more information, visit www.bcwomens.ca.
The Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) plans, manages and evaluates selected specialty and province-wide health-care services across B.C., working with the five geographic health authorities to deliver province-wide solutions that improve the health of British Columbians. For more information, visit www.phsa.ca.
