Quality of life is significantly lower for women than men after a cardiac event, and women who lack social support have a higher risk of fatal heart disease. The Women@Heart program is a peer support program led by women with heart disease, for women with heart disease that aims to create a caring environment for women to learn from each other and support one another on the road to recovery.

The program provides women with heart disease, in every community, with access to emotional support, education support and a caring environment for a better recovery.  

How Women@Heart Works

Women@Heart lasts four months and consists of 10 two-hour sessions held weekly and bi-weekly in community settings and virtually across Canada. It is free and a physician referral is not required.

The sessions are run by Peer Leaders who are women who have had a successful recovery from heart disease and have a strong passion for supporting and helping other women on their road to recovery. Through a three-day training workshop, Women@Heart Peer Leaders are trained to become support network leaders within their local communities. 

See a detailed overview of the topics that are covered in each session.

Interested in learning more about Women@Heart? Download our Women@Heart Postcard and Program Summary.

Are You Eligible?

To be eligible for Women@Heart, you must:

• Be a woman with heart disease (heart attack, angina, stent, bypass surgery, valve disorder, pacemaker)
• Have not been hospitalized or experienced significant cardiac symptoms within the last 6 weeks.
• Geographically available for attending local group sessions.
• Understand English or French.
• Be a Canadian resident.