YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO ATRIAL FIBRILLATION: IMPLEMENTATION OF CANADIAN CARDIOVASCULAR SOCIETY/HEART AND STROKE FOUNDATION OF CANADA PATIENT EDUCATION RESOURCES

The consensus guidelines published by Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) in 2010/12 highlight the importance of evidence-based patient education and the pivotal role of self-care management to optimize treatment and outcomes. CCS initiated the development of a national initiative to offer patients, AF clinics and multidisciplinary healthcare providers the patient education resources required to facilitate the knowledge translation of the CCS AF guidelines. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC) supported the final product development in collaboration with a patient literacy specialist. This presentation will launch the publication of the final resources housed by HSFC and available to patients and clinical stakeholders. We will outline the initial objectives of the project, process developed to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and national representation, and the pivotal role of about 50 cardiovascular nurses and allied health professionals across Canada in the website’s production. We will examine the curriculum framework and highlight the attention paid to patient literacy best practices. We will review the resources available and demonstrate how to tailor the use to individualized patient needs. In conclusion, we will discuss the proposed evaluation to measure the national uptake of the resources and guide the review process. The CCS/HSFC Complete Guide to AF is the first standardized patient education resource collectively developed by a national collaborative of nurses, physicians, allied health professionals and patients to support CCS guidelines in partnership with HSFC. This unique project provides an opportunity to improve the self-care management of people living with AF.