With a shared interest in raising awareness of the historic gaps in women’s health research, Alberta Blue Cross® has partnered with the newly formed Alberta Women’s Health Foundation with a campaign to raise awareness and improve health outcomes.
Launched this spring, the campaign aims to create awareness of the gaps in women’s health and support a commitment to research that will directly target women’s health in Alberta. Appropriately named, #RefocusTheResearch, the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation is shifting attention from women’s appearances to women’s health. Funding for this campaign comes from Alberta Blue Cross®’s community foundation.
In recognition of Mother’s Day, the campaign is focusing on sharing stories that showcase women who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic—including women who have had a baby during the pandemic, women who have had to stay home with young children, pregnancy during the pandemic, struggling with infertility and more. The stories are submitted directly to Alberta Women’s Health Foundation and shared online. These stories can be found at albertawomenshealthfoundation.org/research.
According to the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation, each year, approximately 300 Alberta women are sent home from the emergency department, only to be later readmitted with a heart attack. Signs of a heart attack in women go unrecognized because they often have different symptoms than men, which is just one example of how women’s healthcare is directly affected by historic deficits in women’s health research1. An initiative of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation will support more than 140 researchers at the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute.
“As a long-time supporter of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, Alberta Blue Cross® is proud to partner with Alberta Women’s Health Foundation for this important awareness campaign,” says Dianne Balon, vice-president of Government at Alberta Blue Cross®. “It is more important than ever to encourage others to focus their attention on advances to improve health outcomes of all women.”
As a locally based, not-for-profit organization, Alberta Blue Cross® provides benefits to more than 1.8 million Albertans and has a unique focus on supporting the health and wellness of all Albertans. The organization is ranked as one of Alberta’s Top 10 Most Loved Brands, as well as one of Alberta’s Top 25 Most Respected Organizations.
For more information please contact
Sharmin Hislop, Corporate Communications director, Alberta Blue Cross®
[1] Public Health Agency of Canada. Prevalence of Chronic Diseases Among Canadian Adults. Available at: https://www.albertawomenshealthfoundation.org/research/post/alberta-womens-health-foundation-to-tackle-historic-gaps-in-health-research.
