North America. Funding for new heart-health education projects in American high-risk communities
North America
Funding for new heart-health education projects in American high-risk communitiesKeywords:Health care, Improvement, Community
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is to fund six new community-based education projects, which will focus on improving the cardiovascular health of those at increased risk of heart disease and strokes. They will form part of a nationwide network of community-based organizations known as enhanced dissemination and utilization centers (EDUCs). The EDUC programme, launched in 2001 to implement focused heart-health education strategies in high risk communities, is a key part of the NHLBI's agenda to achieve the goals of Healthy People 2010. Heart disease and strokes remain the first and third leading causes of death in the US. However, certain geographic areas and racial/ethnic groups are disproportionately affected, and the federal government's Healthy People 2010 initiative seeks to eliminate those disparities and improve health care for all.
All of the EDUCs are in health service areas (HSAs) where the death rate for coronary heart disease and/or strokes is in the top 15 percent of HSAs nationally. They emphasize the forging of community health partnerships to meet individual project goals. Objectives are achieved through a variety of creative approaches including training peer health educators; conducting awareness-raising town-hall meetings, community-based screening and referral programs, and nutrition and physical activity programs; and working with physicians to improve the implementation of clinical practice guidelines. There are already six existing EDUCs, now in their second year of activity, which will share lessons learned and examples of success with the new programs through regular discussion forums. Tracking of progress is helped by a series of built-in evaluation measures.
Further information: the NHLBI Web site is at: www.nhlbi.nih.gov
