$1m grant to target depression in heart patients
Cardiologist and researcher, Professor Andrew Boyle, will investigate whether a novel well-being app can reduce depression in patients discharged from hospital with acute heart failure.
The head of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Newcastle was today awarded the Heart Foundation’s Mental Health and Heart Disease Strategic Grant, worth almost $1m.
One Australian is admitted to hospital with heart failure every eight minutes and eight people die from heart failure every day. Depression is prevalent among patients with heart disease, the major cause of heart failure in Australia, and is associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation and death.
As part of Professor Boyle’s grant program, patients will be prompted to monitor their health and symptoms of depression via an app, with this data being monitored in real-time by patients’ cardiac teams who will respond if high-risk information is recorded.
The app will provide patients with tailored advice to manage their heart failure while allowing health professionals to prioritise and respond quickly to urgent mental health needs when they arise.
The team also includes Laureate Professor Rob Sanson-Fisher, Dr Breanne Hobden and Dr Kristy Fakes.
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