Project Overview

In Ontario, Indigenous older adults face a significantly disproportionate level of diabetes compared to the general population. With the growing use of digital health programs to support disease management, the University Health Network (UHN) developed the bant platform to support diabetes self-management. The UHN team partnered with the Barrie Area Na ve Advisory Circle (BANAC)’s Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin Indigenous Interprofessional Primary Care Team to leverage the bant platform and co-develop a collaborative service for equitable access to diabetes care. Our teams found that older adult patients require cultural and service level changes to facilitate timely access to culturally-safe diabetes care. Using a community-based approach, we aim to evaluate the extent to which the program was successfully implemented, and the barriers and facilitators to implementation. With BANAC recognizing technology-facilitated health care options as a regional priority, we plan to host a knowledge translation community event with the Indigenous Health Circle to explore the applicability of scaling bant across the care centres in North Simcoe Muskoka.