A bold, national partnership program led by Boehringer Ingelheim Canada is helping to address gaps in Canada’s health system for people living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and heart failure (HF).
Known as AHEAD (Access for Health Education and Disease Management), the program’s goal is to increase and enhance allied healthcare professionals’ support of people living with T2D and HF, whether in person or remote, to support the health team’s efforts to optimize the management of careIn doing so, AHEAD also aims to improve patient understanding of their disease and self-management strategies. The program is helping to improve patient flow within clinical practices and reduce re-hospitalization and emergency department (ED) visits.
Another important goal of the AHEAD program is to addresses some of the current gaps in the health system for people living with T2D and HF. Among these are equity issues such as language, cultural considerations, and access challenges resulting from patient volumes and remote geographic locations. Boehringer Ingelheim Canada has successfully contracted allied health educators who speak multiple languages and are trained in specific ethnic diets and supported virtual management to improve accessibility.
To date, the AHEAD program has had a positive impact on stakeholders, supporting patient re-entry and follow-up as a result of the COVID-19 backlog, reducing readmissions and ED visits, and improving patient care through education and guideline-directed medical therapy optimization. In 2023, more than 4,000 patients across Canada were impacted by the program.
This partnership is an example of how delivering innovative customized solutions to patients can help promote health outcomes and bring sustainable and improved patient care.