Project summary
Using mobile and digital health interventions to support patients after a heart attack modify their health behaviours.
What is the issue for NSW?
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Our health system is largely still a medicalised and facility (hospital or clinic) based model of care.
This model of care is rapidly out-stripping our ability to resource it especially as it is faced by an aging population and the increasing prevalence of complex chronic health care conditions. A greater focus on a prevention is needed.
We should develop innovative approaches to maintain health and prevent deterioration of health in patients with existing or chronic health conditions. This should also include systems to enable earlier identification of those at risk and implementation of interventions to prevent catastrophic health events e.g. heart attack, stroke or premature mortality.
What does the research aim to do and how?
My research to date in CVD prevention has involved novel approaches such as using mobile and digital health interventions to support patients after a heart attack modify their health behaviours and support them to take their healthcare treatments. My program of work in the next five years will focus on innovative opportunities to strengthen CVD prevention through enhanced clinical approaches and enhanced health service delivery.
This will involve integrating the digital health interventions and other new interventions we have developed into clinical pathways and the health system as well as creating new care models. The goal of my research is to cultivate a program of work that utilises innovative, practical and scalable approaches to improve CVD preventative care for patients and populations.