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Getting heart attack patients to follow doctors' orders


June 9, 2014

Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw has been awarded $1 million from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to study different ways to get people who have suffered a heart attack to continue rehabilitation and take their medication. Previous studies show that, a year after a major heart attack, just 30% to 40% go to rehabilitation and only 50% take their medications properly. The multi-site study will be based out of Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, and Dr. Noah Ivers will co-lead the study along with Dr. Grimshaw. The research will examine the effectiveness of different ways to get heart attack patients to follow their treatment plans. Strategies will include reminder letters, automated phone calls, follow-up phone calls from nurses, and a combination of all three methods to see which is most effective. The cost of each strategy will also be analyzed.

About the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with the university’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. OHRI includes more than 1,700 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease.

Media contact
Paddy Moore
Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
613-737-8899 x73687
613-323-5680 (cell)
padmoore@ohri.ca