Tianzhuo Yu, PhD(C)

Toronto, Ontario

Nursing PhD student
University of Toronto (International Visiting Graduate Student)
Toronto, Ontario | @tianzhuo_yu

CWHHA member since April 2024

Biography

I am a 2nd year Ph.D. student from the School of Nursing, Jilin University. I am jointly trained as an international visiting graduate student at the University of Toronto. During the master’s level and the first year of the doctoral level, my research has primarily focused on the effects of digital health-based cardiac rehabilitation interventions on secondary prevention behaviours inpatients with cardiovascular diseases. In the second year of my Ph.D., I defined my research direction and landed on peripheral artery disease, still focusing on secondary prevention behaviours. I will focus on patients with lower extremity artery disease with intermittent claudication symptoms. The goal of my Ph.D. project is to use a mobile health delivery method based on the We Chat applet, using gamification methods, and under the guidance of self-regulation theory and related guidelines to improve patients' awareness of the symptoms of intermittent claudication and allow patients to master the treatment leg pain challenges capabilities and breaks the ice inpatients' reluctance to continue to take responsibility for their health. This may promote patients'behavioural changes and improve patients' adherence to structured walking exercises, thereby enhancing their walking ability, and improving their quality of life and clinical outcomes of the disease. Additionally, since women are underrepresented in clinical trials, I would pay closer attention to potential gender differences, such as which game design elements are more effective for women. I look forward to using my expertise to contribute to women’s cardiovascular health and working with CWHHA members to improve women’s cardiovascular health across their lifespans