Enhancing capacity for cardiovascular disease prevention: an overview of the British Columbia Heart Health Dissemination Research Project.

British Columbia (population 3.88 million) is located on the West Coast of Canada (Statistics Canada, 1996). Primary resource activities are the province's traditional sources of economic strength, but there is also a growing economy based on knowledge-intensive secondary manufacturing, high-technology, tourism, film and international business (Ministry of Employment and Investment, 2000). Approximately one-third of the government's total expenditures go to health care (BC Stats, 2000). In 1997, health care in BC was regionalized and responsibility for health services decentralized to 52 health authorities serving eighteen regions.