This Theme 3 Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI) project focuses on preventing brain-heart conditions over entire lifespans. Dr. Tobe’s team is working to generate, implement and evaluate best practice recommendations that will guide clinicians and patients in detecting, preventing and treating brain-heart conditions.
This ground-breaking initiative will bridge brain and heart health by establishing Canada’s first clinical practice guidelines.
The C-CHANGE Clinical Practice Guideline Project
C-CHANGE is a national effort that consolidates clinical practice guidelines to support health-care practitioners. Dr. Tobe’s team has partnered with C-CHANGE to manage the guideline development process.
Although Dr. Tobe has traditionally focused on cardiovascular conditions, this project will be the first to integrate brain conditions into these guidelines to create an evidence-based, brain-heart clinical practice guideline (BH-CPG). In turn, these guidelines will improve the screening, diagnosis, prevention and management of brain-heart-connected conditions by addressing the following critical areas:
- Optimal blood pressure targets to prevent both brain and heart diseases
- Screening for depression in patients recovering from a heart attack or stroke
- Dementia screening protocols for individuals with heart failure
This project will also evaluate the impact of the guidelines on clinical practices and patient outcomes to ensure that they provide meaningful health-care delivery benefits. Developed with a patient-centered approach, the guidelines incorporate the insights of individuals with lived experiences, and ongoing experiences, of brain and heart conditions. The development process for these guidelines emphasizes equity, diversity and inclusion, and considers factors such as sex, gender, ethnicity, accessibility and socioeconomic status.
The implementation strategies proposed will also address the unique needs of urban, rural and remote communities, so that these guidelines can be broadly applied across Canada. The development of decision aids will also help health-care practitioners and patients put these guidelines into practice.
The Brain-Heart Clinical Practice Guideline Video
Developed by Dr. Paul Roumeliotis and his team, the BHI C-CHANGE project has released a video that provides an in-depth look at the pioneering work of the BHI team as they develop Canada’s first integrated brain-heart clinical practice guidelines. The video highlights the critical connections between brain health and heart health, while showcasing the innovative approach that is driving improvements in patient care and health outcomes.
Watch the BHI C-CHANGE video to learn more about how the BHI is transforming brain-heart health care.
To learn more about the Brain-Heart Clinical Practice Guidelines, visit Home | C-CHANGE Guidelines