Heart & Stroke beat its goal with blood pressure program

‘Activate’ involved healthy eating, activity, stress management

The Heart & Stroke Foundation “exceeded” its goal of stopping blood pressure increases in the people enrolled in its innovatively funded Activate program, it says.

The program was open to those 40 and over who were prehypertensive and not taking blood pressure medication. It saw 4,579 participants from Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatoon commit to six months of physical activity, healthy eating and stress management.

Based on a sample of more than 1,000 participants, there was an average 4.4 per cent drop in blood pressure, a significant decrease, according to Hearth & Stroke.

High blood pressure is the No. 1 risk factor for stroke and a leading contributor to heart disease which, combined, kill more than 66,000 Canadians a year, according to Doug Roth, CEO of Heart & Stroke. But 80 per cent of these risks can be modified through behaviour.

Participants were given access to a personal health coach, a Loblaws dietitian, a two-month YMCA membership and an online platform to track progress.

Roth described the resources as a “choose your own adventure.”

“The importance of the program is it’s focused on an issue that affects thousands and thousands of Canadians each year and that’s blood pressure,” Roth said. Activate was created with “absolutely critical partners,” he said, including the YMCA and Shoppers Drug Mart, who brought “expertise and a passion for health” to the program.

The program launched in 2018 and ended this fall. The program was launched in collaboration with private investors, government, private and community partners, and the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing. It was possible due to an “innovative funding mechanism” called a social impact bond.