News and press releases

Montreal, October 2, 2014 – On the occasion of the 5e Rendez-vous sur la gestion des maladies chroniques (the 5th meeting on the management of chronic diseases) being held today in Montreal, Capsana is proud to officially launch the new Let’s Discuss Health program (the LetsDiscussHealth.ca website is currently in French only). The objective of this initiative is to promote effective communication between patients and health professionals in order to improve the quality of their interactions and encourage patients to self-manage their conditions.

“Let’s Discuss Health signals the arrival of an important resource in the treatment of chronic diseases that offers free, tangible and accessible tools based on recognized theoretical models such as the Chronic Care Model, the Health Belief Model, and the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change. On one hand, the Let’s Discuss Health program encourages patients to take charge of their health and on the other helps professionals adapt their interventions,” explains Dr. Marie-Thérèse Lussier, Researcher at the Primary Care Research Team at the Laval HSSC and co-creator of Let’s Discuss Health.

Patient compliance presents an important challenge to the effective management of chronic diseases, which are becoming increasingly prevalent. Indeed, it is estimated that only 50 to 75% of patients adhere to the recommendations of professionals¹. The collaborative approach of Let’s Discuss Health can surely play a positive role when dealing with this issue.

Health professionals who are more attentive to patient needs

Let’s Discuss Health currently offers French-speaking health professionals (doctors, nurses, and pharmacists) an online training accredited by the Médecins francophones du Canada. This program helps professionals quickly determine patient readiness and tailor their interventions to patients’ level of understanding and motivation in order to reach the targets of care.

Patients who are better prepared and more “active”

A large proportion of patients would like to take a more active role in their health. Let’s Discuss Health provides reliable tools amid all the various sources of information available today to guide their approach, such as an appointment preparation guide, a personalized health booklet, and practical tips to communicate more effectively with professionals.

“I hope patients and health professionals across Quebec will use Let’s Discuss Health because effective communication is the key to ensuring more productive interactions and better follow-up care. Patients and professionals working as a team and developing partnerships is without a doubt beneficial not only for the patients’ health but also for that of the network, which is going through a difficult time,” adds Dr. Louis Gagnon, Co-president and Founder of Capsana.

A project of this magnitude would not have been possible without the participation of several actors. Capsana would like to thank its collaborators and co-creators, Drs. Marie-Thérèse Lussier and Claude Richard, of the Primary Care Research Team at the Centre de santé et de services sociaux de Laval (Laval HSSC), and acknowledge the support of Réseau-1 Québec, Médecins francophones du Canada, and the RCPU (Regroupement provincial des comités des usagers). Let’s Discuss Health was developed thanks to funding from the Santé des Populations program to which AstraZeneca contributes.

¹Van Dulmen S., Sluijs E., van Dijk L., de Ridder D., Heerdink R., Bensing J. Patient adherence to medical treatment: a review of reviews. BMC Health Services Research, 2007, 7:55.

About Capsana

Capsana is a social enterprise owned by the HMR Foundation, the ÉPIC Foundation, which is associated with the Montreal Heart Institute, and the Fondation PSI (Prévention santé intégrale). Its mission is to help individuals take an active role in their health. Founded in 1988 under the name ACTI-MENU, Capsana is dedicated to the promotion of health and healthy lifestyles, as well as the prevention and management of chronic diseases. Capsana organizes public campaigns and health promotion programs for the workplace and has been publishing informational documents for patients for over 15 years. The Let’s Discuss Health program is Capsana’s first online solution for clinical settings. For more information, visit the Tools for patients and professionals section at www.capsana.ca.