Researchers have said that community-based programs to lower blood pressure successfully reduced cardiovascular disease in Canada.

The study also found that the community-based Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program significantly reduced both heart disease and stroke in seniors.

It has been reported that researchers randomly selected 39 mid-size communities and stratified them by location and population size. Twenty communities received CHAP and the other 19 communities served as controls.

In the CHAP communities, doctors asked patients to meet at pharmacies with volunteers to check blood pressure, review the warning signs of stroke and heart attack, look at risk factors and promote blood pressure control and healthy living.

More than 15,000 residents and 500 peer volunteers took part in the program.

Dr. Janusz Kaczorowski of the University of British Columbia and the Child and Family Research Institute said in a statement, "Volunteer-led risk assessments combined with health information and linkages to primary care providers and community resources led to an impressive 9 percent reduction in their rates of hospitalization for stroke, heart attack, and congestive heart failure." (With Inputs from Agencies)