Sherry Grace

Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Science York University

  • Toronto ON

Studying access to chronic cardiac care, as well as optimizing quantity and quality of life in heart patients.

Contact

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Biography

Sherry L. Grace, PhD, FCCS, CRFC holds her primary appointment as Full Professor in the Faculty of Health at York University. She is also appointed at the University Health Network, University of Toronto, as Sr. Scientist with Toronto Rehabilitation Institute’s Cardiovascular Rehabilitation & Prevention Program, and is Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation Research with the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.

Prof. Grace’s research centers on optimizing post-acute cardiovascular care globally, as well as cardiac psychology. She has published over 225 papers, and authored clinical practice guidelines. She led the development of the pan-Canadian quality indicators for cardiac rehabilitation, as well as national policy positions on systematic referral and utilization interventions.

Prof. Grace has earned awards from the American and Canadian Associations of Cardiovascular Rehabilitation, among other societies. Finally, she was instrumental in the development of the International Council on Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, serving on the Executive Board since inception.

Industry Expertise

Education/Learning
Research

Areas of Expertise

Healthcare
Public Health
Clinical Research
Heart Disease
Behavioural Cardiology

Education

University of Windsor

Ph.D.

Psychology

University of Waterloo

B.A.

Psychology

Affiliations

  • Senior Scientist, University Health Network
  • Director of Research, Cardiovascular Rehabilitation & Prevention Program, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network
  • Member, Kinesiology and Health Science, Faculty of Graduate Studies, York University
  • Member, Heart & Stroke/Richard Lewar Centre of Excellence, University of Toronto
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Languages

  • English
  • French

Media Appearances

International experts publish guidelines for cardiac rehab in developing countries

ScienceDaily  

2016-05-16

"All heart patients should be referred to cardiac rehab," says York U Professor Sherry Grace. "We see in countries like India and China, young cardiac patients die at incredible rates. This is because so few programs are set up in these developing countries."...

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Fewer women than men finish rehab after heart attack, study finds

Vancouver Sun  

2016-04-26

The main report published online Wednesday is an analysis of 14 existing studies on rehabilitation rates among 8,176 cardiac patients, 2,234 of whom were female. Sherry Grace, lead author from Toronto’s University Health Network, found that about two-thirds of all participants followed up with a four-month program of exercise and counselling, although fewer women did so...

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Reduced anxiety and depression for women participating in women-only cardiac rehab

Science Newsline Medicine  online

2016-02-03

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women globally. Women who have an acute coronary heart event may be more likely to die or to suffer complications during the initial recovery period than men, but are less likely to make use of cardiac rehabilitation programs. Although all models of cardiac rehab significantly improve heart health, investigators found that participating in women-only cardiac rehab resulted in significantly lower symptoms of anxiety and depression and improvements in diet. Their findings are published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

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Articles

Cardiac rehabilitation utilization in England: Results from the National Audit

Journal of the American Heart Association

2016-10-21

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is grossly underused, with major inequities in access. However, use of CR and predictors of initiation in England where CR contracting is available is unknown. The aims were (1) to investigate CR utilization rates in England, and (2) to determine sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with CR initiation including social deprivation.

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Advocacy for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation globally

BMC Health Services Research

2016-09-01

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an evidence-based intervention recommended for patients with CVD, to prevent recurrent event s and to improve quality of life . However, despite the proven benefits, only a small percentage of those would benefit from CR actually receive it worldwide.

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Cardiac rehabilitation referral and enrolment across an academic health sciences centre with eReferral and peer navigation

BMJ Open

2016-03-21

Cardiovascular disease is among the leading causes of morbidity globally. With advances in acute treatment, patients are surviving their events, but remain at high risk of recurrence and subsequent mortality. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an outpatient secondary prevention programme composed of structured exercise training, comprehensive education, and counselling, which has been shown to reduce recurrence and increase survival.

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