Stafford Pharmacy is pleased to announce that we will be recruiting patients for a study being conducted by the University of Alberta. This study is hoping determine how a community pharmacy cardiovascular risk reduction program can help decrease your cardiovascular risk!
Background: Cardiovascular disease (disease of the heart and blood vessels) is one of the leading causes of death in Canada. Additionally, it costs the Canadian economy close to $21 billion per year. The study aims to show that pharmacists working with patients and their doctors to modify risk factors for cardiovascular disease can decrease our population’s overall cardiovascular risk. Because pharmacists are easily accessible, they may have more opportunities to educate people about cardiovascular diseases and medications used to treat them. This MAY lead to better prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases.
How do you know if you are eligible to participate?
If you have one or more of the following it is likely you will be eligible to participate:
- Elevated blood pressure (with or without medications to treat blood pressure)
- Elevated cholesterol (with or without medications to treat cholesterol)
- Elevated blood glucose (with or without medications to treat blood sugar)
- Large waist circumference or high body weight
- Kidney disease
- Use tobacco
**If you are unsure of your cardiovascular health because you haven’t been checked for elevated blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar, and would like to be screened to assess your cardiovascular risk, please speak with one of our pharmacists today!
If you are eligible, what will you have to do? If you meet any of the above criteria and consent to participate, your pharmacist will assess your risk of having a heart attack or stroke using a computer program. To have your risk properly assessed, you may be asked to have some blood tests completed (including cholesterol level, etc.) if you haven’t done so in the last 3-6 months. The pharmacist will provide you with a laboratory requisition form to have the testing done. If you are eligible and consent to participate in the study, you will be randomly assigned to one of two groups using a computer program. The two groups will be the Usual Care Group and the Advanced Care Group—each receiving a different level of care.
How much time will this take? The first meeting with the pharmacist (or pharmacy student) will take 30-45 minutes. Follow-up assessments will also be conducted monthly to every three months and take an average of 10-20 minutes.
What are the possible benefits? The pharmacist-delivered program may lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke by decreasing your risk factors.
If you would like more information on this study or to find out if you are eligible to participate in this study on reducing the cardiovascular risk of Albertans, please speak with a member of our pharmacy team today!
