Canadian Hypertension Education Program: the evolution of hypertension management guidelines in Canada.

The Canadian Hypertension Education Program (CHEP) is a unique Canadian initiative to improve awareness, treatment and control of hypertension through the education of health care professionals. It is the culmination of an over 30-year effort in the development of hypertension management recommendations in Canada. Important transitions in this evolution included adoption of a consensus approach, rigorous evidence grading, enhanced dissemination strategies, recommendation consolidation, sophisticated adjudication procedures, an annual process and the 'branding' of the effort as a distinct entity. CHEP is composed of expert health care 'volunteers', organized via steering, executive and central review committees, in conjunction with three task forces: the Recommendations Task Force, the Implementation Task Force and the Outcomes Research Task Force. CHEP espouses philosophies that strengthen effectiveness and cohesion: multiple partnerships, stakeholders, supporters and multidisciplinary participants ensure that key messages are disseminated with great impact to broad audiences. Over the past 10 years, there have been unprecedented advances in the treatment of hypertension and the reduction of related diseases in Canada. CHEP, a likely contributor, is being increasingly viewed as an international model for knowledge translation.