Grant: Health System Impact Fellowships - PostDoc Central Canada 2-year

Background: In the last 2 decades, levels of hypertension awareness and control in Canada were the highest in the world, however, recent data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey indicate a disturbing trend, especially in older women (now down to less than 50% controlled). Thus, greater implementation of evidence-based guidance for hypertension management into clinical practice is warranted. This study will take a systematic process to identify the variables and conditions that can lead to full and effective use of evidence-based guidelines into primary care, specifically for the management and prevention of hypertension in women. Objectives: This study will focus on women (>40 years) with uncontrolled hypertension and aims to identify elements of the evidence-based guidelines that are being underutilised in managing this patient population. We will then identify and address the gaps at the patient, provider, clinic, and/or policy level of the healthcare system. The objective of this study is to design theory-informed implementation strategies for key Hypertension Canada (HC) guideline recommendations from the patient and clinician perspective for women at risk of uncontrolled and under-managed hypertension. Methods: We will conduct an implementation study using the Theoretical Domain Framework (TDF) which is a comprehensive, theory-informed, and systematic approach to identify the actionable determinants of behaviour and behaviour change in clinicians and patients. We will use a systematic method for developing theory-informed implementation strategies that will involve 4 phases.