The medium is the (health) measure: patient engagement using personal technologies.

With the phrase "the medium is the message", Marshall McLuhan argued that technologies are the messages themselves and not just the medium. Almost 50 years later, we understand that modern information and communication technologies expand our ability to perceive our world to an extent that would be impossible without the medium. In this article, we contend that information and communication technologies are becoming the dominant medium for patient engagement.

Gestational diabetes in Manitoba during a twenty-year period.

Purpose: This retrospective cohort study was designed to examine the prevalence and risk factors of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Manitoba.

Methods: A total of 324,605 deliveries by 165,969 women were reported to Manitoba Health in the years 1985-2004. Data on maternal ages, delivery dates, GDM, self-declared First Nation (FN) status, rural or urban residence and previous GDM were collected for the study.

Advancing Health Promotion Priorities: Stories of Capacity Building from the Canadian Heart Health Initiative (CHHI).

The purpose of this paper is to explore how public health professionals built capacity to carry out health promotion despite a low level of investment and competition for financial resources with acute-oriented healthcare services. Three data sources are used in this analysis: key-informant interviews with project participants, final reports from three provincial Heart Health projects in Canada (Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Manitoba) and major provincial health policy documents prior to and during each project. We use a narrative policy analysis to identify contextual factors influencing health promotion priority and progress through capacity building.