Continuing Care
Bruyere to deploy online system for self-care
June 7, 2017
OTTAWA – Bruyère Continuing Care is the first customer in Canada for the Better Choices, Better Health program, which is offered jointly by Medtronic and Canary Health, a Los Angeles-based provider of digital health, self-management programs.
Bruyère is one of Ontario’s largest providers of sub-acute care, rehab, geriatric medicine and palliative care. It will offer Ontarians with chronic conditions the newly updated, online version of Better Choices, Better Health.
Medtronic and Canary Health are the exclusive providers of Canary Health’s Better Choices, Better Health program for people with Type 2 diabetes.
Through the partnership, Medtronic has expanded its diabetes care offerings into pre-diabetes and diabetes-related comorbidities with Canary Health’s chronic disease self-management programs.
These programs include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control-recognized Diabetes Prevention Program, Virtual Lifestyle Management, and the Better Choices, Better Health self-management program for chronic diseases.
“We believe that providing the Better Choices, Better Health program will help residents of Ontario living with chronic conditions make needed lifestyle changes and support them with managing their own chronic conditions,” said Rachel Davidson (pictured), regional coordinator chronic disease self-management, at Bruyère Continuing Care. “We’re looking forward to working with Canary Health and Medtronic, benefitting from their local presence and international expertise.”
The Better Choices, Better Health program is a six-week workshop, delivered online to individuals with ongoing and persistent health conditions. The evidence-based workshop is designed to help people feel better, manage symptoms, and gain confidence in their ability to lead active and purposeful lives.
The online workshop was recently redesigned to enhance the user experience, including an easier-to-use, mobile-optimized interface. Other enhancements include a rebuilt technical infrastructure that will scale to meet growing workshop demand; multi-language support; as well as algorithmic personalization of content and messaging.
“By providing programs like the well-established Better Choices, Better Health through our partnership with Canary Health, we are able to put patients at the centre of their healthcare journey and provide them with a holistic approach that can help transform diabetes care, for greater freedom and better health,” said Sue Willman, vice president, global diabetes integrated care solutions at Medtronic.
“Working with Medtronic, we are extending the footprint of the Better Choices, Better Health program to help more patients manage their diabetes globally,” said Adam Kaufman Ph.D., CEO and president of Canary Health. “This partnership with Bruyère Continuing Care is another example of Medtronic and Canary Health leading the way in providing diabetes digital health self-management.”
About the Better Choices, Better Health program
Developed and evaluated at Stanford University’s Patient Education Research Center, the Better Choices, Better Health program has evolved for more than two decades and is now offered exclusively as a digital solution by Canary Health across the U.S. and internationally. In one of the largest peer-reviewed studies of a digital diabetes self-management program, the Better Choices, Better Health program was proven to lead to lasting positive changes. The 12-month study results, recently published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, showed notable outcomes including:
- Reduction in HbA1C (average blood glucose)
- Improved depression symptoms
- Decreased frequent hypoglycemic symptoms
- Improved medication adherence
- Increased exercise
About Canary Health
Canary Health (www.canaryhealth.com) is a leading provider of digital health self-management programs that prevent the progression of chronic diseases including arthritis, depression, diabetes, and heart disease. The company’s mission is to empower people with the tools, coaching and community support to self-manage their health, enhancing their quality of life, improving health outcomes, and lowering the cost of care. Canary Health solutions have been deployed in dozens of healthcare organizations such as GEHA and Kaiser Permanente, impacting tens of thousands of individuals. Based in Los Angeles, Canary Health holds the exclusive license to Stanford University Patient Research Center’s proven self-management programs for chronic conditions and caregivers and offers a CDC-recognized Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP).