Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds

The Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds is a national research study aimed at understanding better the influence of socioenvironmental and circumstantial factors on the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Canada’s geographic and ethnic diversity will enable researchers to examine participants of ethnic groups that are at high risk for CVD, including South Asians, East Asians, Africans and reserve-based Aboriginals. This research will assess the impact of contextual factors associated with groups ranging across the geographic and ethnic spectrums, and their relative impact compared to factors on an individual level.

Through developing a better understanding of the correlation between socioenvironmental and circumstantial factors in relation to the functioning of the cardiac and vascular system, we can improve the quality and longevity of life, and minimize the burden of cost on our health care system. The collaborative efforts of researchers, research centres and groups across Canada create a multidisciplinary team to fill existing knowledge gaps (individual risk factors in relation to social and built environments) and allow for political decisions that can minimize the CVD burden in Canada.