New partnership focuses on healthy habits to reduce heart disease risk for Manitoba women

Manitoba is aiming to reduce the risk of heart disease among women through a new partnership with the Reh-Fit Centre and the Victoria General Hospital Foundation.

As part of a social impact bond announced Wednesday, the hospital foundation has committed to spending $600,000 over the next three years to enable the Reh-Fit Centre to virtually deliver health behavioural mentoring sessions to about 400 women at risk of heart disease.

A social impact bond is a funding model that asks private investors to fund social services projects. If the project meets certain targets, investors get their money back from the province, plus a return.

This approach allows the government to try new approaches to old issues without taking on a financial risk, the province says.

If the initiative announced Wednesday is successful, the province will pay up to $648,000 to the foundation, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said at a news conference.

The success of the program, set to start in January, will be measured by the number of women who participate in an initial assessment to determine program eligibility, the number who reduce their systolic blood pressure and the number who increase their participation in physical activity by the end.

Shared Health and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority will connect participants with the program through behavioural mentoring sessions.

"The need to support women's heart health is more urgent than ever. Heart disease remains one of the greatest health threats facing women today," said Nicole Chammartin, executive director of the Victoria General Hospital Foundation. 

"When compared with men, women with heart disease have poorer prognosis, greater likelihood for disability and higher rates of illness and death."

A 2017 study commissioned by Manitoba Health and Seniors Care found the cost of treating individuals with heart disease is six times greater than individuals with general medical needs, Gordon said. She also noted a recent Statistics Canada report indicates adults in general have decreased their physical activity levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research suggests that about 80 per cent of heart attacks can be prevented through healthy behaviours like being physically active, eating fruits and vegetables, and not smoking, Gordon said.

Interventions that target those key risk factors for heart disease can play a strong role in limiting the burden and cost of the disease, she added, noting approximately six per cent of Manitoba women have heart disease.

"You may not know this, but women experience heart health differently from men, and rates of heart disease in women come at a significant cost to society and the individuals involved," said Gordon.

"Women often are spending a lot of time caring for family members and they may not prioritize their own health above the health of others, so signs of heart disease often go unrecognized."

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont didn't question the need for the program, but chastised the province for funding it with a social impact bond, which he described as "a high-interest loan" from the Victoria General Hospital Foundation.

"Of course, they expect to take out more than they put in. If it pays off, it's capital gains. If they lose, it's a tax write-off. Either way, government loses revenue, we all pay more," Lamont said in a statement.

Given the current low interest rates, Lamont said it would make more sense for the province to finance the program, or simply make a public investment, which he said would cost less.

The latest social impact bond is the fourth launched in Manitoba.

The first came in early 2019 and was designed to keep newborns with their mothers by matching Indigenous doulas with at-risk expectant mothers to support them through pregnancy and following childbirth.