Upcoming Events and Opportunities

TRANSFORM HF and The Heart Hub want to build and sustain a vibrant community of local People With Lived Experience (PWLE) who are "research-ready!" This free workshop series was co-developed by PWLE with the goal of training and empowering patients, caregivers, and family members. The three-session series is intended for heart function patients living in the Greater Toronto Area and does require in-person participation. 12 PWLE applicants will be admitted into the course based upon application selection criteria and with consideration to equity, diversity, and inclusion. A mix of theoretical content, experiential learning, and case studies will introduce foundational lessons and skills. Material will be delivered by researchers, health systems experts, and seasoned PWLE partners. The third and final workshop will involve collaborating with UHN Investigators on real-world projects, with the potential to be invited on as a PWLE partner. By the end of the course, graduates will be able to: Identify as a community of knowledgeable people with lived experience of heart disease ready to co-create with researchers. Describe the role of the patient partners in health research, assess its challenges and opportunities and evaluate own strengths and needs as a patient partner. Access and utilize patient-oriented research resources for […]

The Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research invites any Canadian living with heart failure or heart disease, as well as heart transplant recipients, to join our virtual expressive writing workshops. Being diagnosed with heart failure or disease can make you feel as if your world has turned upside down. Powerful emotions come with the diagnosis: fear, anger, sadness, loss—often difficult to express. Writing has been shown to have emotional and physiological benefits to those dealing with life-threatening or chronic conditions, hardship, or trauma. Facilitated by Sharon Bray, Ed.D., author, educator and heart failure patient, the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research is hosting a series of virtual workshops where you can learn why, and how, writing can be healing, whether you write alone or with others. “As patients, I think we learn a lot from each other,” Sharon says. “The workshops build an extraordinary community through story. People realize they’re not alone.” Writing the Heart: 4-Week Workshop Series (Virtual) Each 90-minute session of this four-part series facilitated by Sharon Bray Ed.D. will be conducted in an atmosphere of safety and support with the same participants each week. Sharon will guide the group with specific writing prompts, with time allocated for […]