Background

Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of premature death in women in Canada. Despite this, heart disease and stroke in women remain under-recognized, poorly understood, and under-treated. Sex and gender are key factors impacting risk of heart disease and stroke. For example, conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome or the use of hormone therapy may increase a woman’s risk of having heart disease and stroke. Furthermore, women face greater discrimination, social, and financial burden when accessing healthcare and cardiovascular care in comparison to men.
Demand for family physician appointments exceeds supply, with one in five Canadians living without access to a regular physician. More than two thirds of women have never had their risk of heart disease or stroke assessed by their family physician. Women who identify as of ethnic or Indigenous descent have even worse access to care due to social, political, cultural, and language barriers. A community-engaged approach is essential to partner with communities to identify and co-create acceptable and sustainable solutions to manage women’s risk of heart disease and stroke.

This initiative aims to take an equity-focused understanding women’s barriers to accessing pharmacy primary care services to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, and co-design and test a pharmacist-facilitated strategy to reduce heart disease and stroke risk among women. To achieve this, we will address 3 objectives:

1. To understand women’s and pharmacists’ barriers and enablers to accessing or delivering pharmacy services for heart disease and stroke risk reduction in women.
2. To co-design the adaptation of an existing pharmacist-facilitated strategy to reduce heart disease and stroke risk among women.
3. To examine the impact, feasibility, and efficacy of a co-designed pharmacist-facilitated cardio-vascular (CV)  risk reduction intervention among women in a proof-of-concept pilot trial.

This project will be divided into three phases to address the objectives.

Phase 1 we will recruit and form an advisory group, including representatives from community partners, women with lived experience or are at risk of heart disease and stroke of diverse backgrounds, community pharmacy representatives, and other interested or relevant groups. Interviews will be conducted with persons with lived experience of heart disease or stroke and pharmacists to explore barriers and enablers of women’s access to assessment and management of heart disease or stroke in pharmacies.

Phase 2 will engage the advisory group in two guided workshops to co-design and adapt a proven strategy to overcome the identified barriers and improve women’s access to care to reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke.

Phase 3, we will test whether the co-designed intervention and implementation strategies in the previous phase are feasible and effective at contributing to a clinically significant reduction in cardiovascular risk.

Roles and Responsibilities

We are looking for women with lived experience with or at risk of heart disease, who are ethnically diverse, live in Edmonton, and the surrounding area and are over the age of 40 years old.

How much time will it take?
To support in the development of a research grant application will take approximately 1-2 online meetings (1 hour each) over July/August 2025. Should the project become funded there will be additional opportunities for patient research partners including joining a project advisory group.

What would I be asked to do?
Attend and contribute to meetings held online. Respond to emails. Reading some information before meetings.

Is this suitable for someone new to research?
Yes. To be included, you do not have to have been part of research before! Support will be available from the research team and patient partner mentors to build an inclusive and accessible space for participants.

When we use the term heart disease, we mean conditions that affect how the heart and blood vessels work, and it can lead to serious problems if not treated. Common types include heart attacks, high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), and blocked arteries (coronary artery disease).

Compensation
As this is a research grant application to apply for funding, compensation is not able to be offered.
Should the project be successful in funding the patient partner would be invited to continue to support the project and be offered compensation for their time and essential contribution.

For more information or to apply:
Kaitlyn Watson, Assistant Professor
Email: kewatson@ualberta.ca
Phone (voicemail): (780) 492-5098