Toronto (April 12, 2018) — NexJ Health Inc. (“NexJ”), a provider of patient-facing population health management solutions, was selected by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (“Heart & Stroke”) to provide the platform and health coaching for a hypertension prevention program called Activate.

Launched in February, Activate will enroll selected participants across three cohorts in Toronto and Vancouver over a three-year period, and will be focused on preventing the progression of hypertension in pre-hypertensive individuals. Activate will aim to help participants improve their modifiable risk factors by adopting sustainable lifestyle changes, with a focus on exercise, nutrition, stress management and smoking cessation. The program will equip these individuals with the tools and resources they can use to maintain these changes beyond the conclusion of the program. Activate will maximize cardiovascular health improvements by enabling self-directed behaviour change, personalized health coaching, and participation with program partners including Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws and the YMCA.

NexJ is leading the intervention delivery in partnership with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute’s Virtual Care Program on NexJ Connected Wellness, an evidence-based digital health management platform using clinically validated health coaching methodology for cardiovascular disease prevention. Health coaches from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and NexJ will use NexJ Connected Wellness to facilitate multichannel therapeutic alliance with participants delivering educational materials, supporting self-directed goal setting, and leveraging motivational interviewing and various behaviour change theories to empower participants to adopt key health behaviours that have been demonstrated to help prevent hypertension.

“NexJ Health is excited to leverage our cardiovascular disease prevention program, coaching services and technology in this collaborative initiative with Heart & Stroke”, says NexJ Health Executive Vice President & General Manager, Gary Baksi. “The innovative program will engage and activate participants to make lasting lifestyle changes to reduce the onset of hypertension. The program is a strategic extension of our work with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in cardiovascular disease prevention, management, and rehab.”

Activate will serve as the basis for future pay-for-success models. Pay-for-success models are structured around measurable results, and Activate will be evaluated on metric-based participant blood pressure outcomes.

About NexJ Health Inc.

NexJ Health Inc. is a provider of patient-facing population health management solutions that deliver patient engagement for chronic disease management.  At NexJ Health, we believe that the most efficient and cost-effective way to offset the rise in chronic disease is to empower patients, with the support of their families, friends, and healthcare professionals, to actively participate in managing their own chronic condition(s). By engaging patients through NexJ Connected Wellness, patients are more likely to achieve their health goals, payers can lower costs, providers can improve care to patients, and pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies can improve medication adherence. For more information about NexJ Health visit www.nexjhealth.com, e-mail info@nexjhealth.com, or call 416-227-3700.

About Heart & Stroke

Life. We don’t want you to miss it. That’s why Heart & Stroke leads the fight against heart disease and stroke. We must generate the next medical breakthroughs, so Canadians don’t miss out on precious moments. Together, we are working to prevent disease, save lives and promote recovery through research, health promotion and public policy.

About The University of Ottawa Heart Institute

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute has flourished into one of Canada’s most distinguished heart health centres for the unparalleled care it provides to its patients, a world-renowned research institute that brings science from bench to bedside, and the country’s main influencer when it comes to preventing heart disease. Its promise remains the very pillar on which it was built: Always putting patients first.

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