Mandate

To improve cancer and chronic disease prevention and screening for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and colorectal, breast, cervical, prostate and lung cancers and their associated risk factors in patients 40-69 years of age.

Areas of Focus

Training of BETTER Prevention Practitioners™: provide hands-on training of healthcare professionals on the Prevention Practitioner role and BETTER approach.

Continuing Education: provide learning opportunites for inter-professional healthcare providers and learners to help implement prevention and screening guidance and inform patient care.

Implementation Support: provide tailored implementation and adaptation support to primary care practices and organizations interested in adopting the BETTER approach.

The BETTER Institute was originally funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) as a three-year pan-Canadian initiative from April 2018 – March 2021 as the BETTER Prevention Practitioner Training Institute. The aim of the initiative was to support the long-term uptake and sustainability of the BETTER approach to cancer and chronic disease prevention and screening in primary care settings across Canada. 

One of the main priorities of the BETTER Prevention Practitioner Training Institute was to work with rural, remote, and Indigenous communities to help address their healthcare needs, with a specific focus on prevention and screening.

In 2020, this initiative evolved into a not-for-profit organization – The BETTER Institute – which was dissolved in 2025. The graphic below illustrates the successes achieved from 2018 to 2025.