The Health Department offers resources and supports to help people living in Durham Region make healthy living choices for them, their families and their community.
Making healthy choices can have a helpful impact in all areas of your life. Whether it's choosing to eat healthy or be physically active, or knowing that local restaurants and other public places are checked to make sure they are safe, the Health Department provides information and services to help residents make choices that can lead to healthier lives.
BETTER HEALTH: Durham Study
The aim of BETTER HEALTH: Durham was to study whether the BETTER intervention, which was effective in family doctor practices, would also work as a community-based strategy. The BETTER intervention includes supportive meetings between a specially trained prevention practitioner nurse and individuals aged 40 to 64. The prevention practitioner nurse helps individuals to identify health goals in the next six months that can help prevent chronic diseases (e.g., cancer screening, blood pressure check, diabetes screening, quit smoking, weight check, etc.).
Promotion, recruitment of participants and delivery of the BETTER intervention was adapted to meet the needs of the Durham Region residents following advice and recommendations from community members and community agencies. The BETTER HEALTH: Durham Study was implemented in selected areas of Durham Region.
The study involved researchers from:
- Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- St. Michael's Hospital
- University of Toronto
- Durham Region Health Department
BETTER= Building on Existing Tools To Improve Chronic Disease Prevention and Screening
The study was successful. There were 126 participants in total. People who met with the prevention practitioner were more likely to take part in chronic disease prevention activities that benefitted their health than people who did not meet with the prevention practitioner (64.5 per cent of recommended activities versus 42.1 per cent of recommended activities).
For information about BETTER HEALTH: Durham results see:
- Study summary provided in the Durham Region Council Information Package for October 1, 2021
- Study findings published in the journal BMC Public Health in 2021.
Funding
Funding for the BETTER HEALTH: Durham Study was provided by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute.
Study timeline
The study recruitment and implementation period is now closed. The timeline for BETTER HEALTH: Durham was from February 2017 until December 2020.
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