Chronic Disease Chronicler 
Heart Health Special Edition
In This Issue
Spread The Word
Resources
Did You Know?
Chronic Disease Prevention Toolkit
Connect with the Chronic Disease Team
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Spread The Word on Heart Health

Local Health Departments: Be a Part of the Million Hearts™ Initiative

Heart disease and stroke are the first and fourth leading causes of death in the United States. Heart disease is responsible for 1 of every 3 deaths in the country. Million Hearts™ is a national initiative that has set an ambitious goal to prevention 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. The impact will be even greater over time.

 

Million Hearts™ aims to prevent heart disease and stroke by:

  • Improving access to effective care.
  • Improving the quality of care for the ABCS.
  • Focusing clinical attention on the prevention of heart attack and stroke.
  • Activating the public to lead a heart-healthy lifestyle.
  • Improving the prescription and adherence to appropriate medications for the ABCS.

For more information about the initiative, please click here

 

Preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017 will require the work and commitment to change from local health departments, primary health care providers and the business community. 

 

Local health departments can benefit from their support by:

  • PROMOTE smoke-free air policies, effective tobacco package labeling, restricted tobacco advertising, and higher tobacco prices to help smokers quit and keep nonsmokers tobacco-free.
  • SUPPORT education programs, tobacco prevention incentives, wellness programs, and recognition programs, and efforts to reduce sodium and eliminate trans fats in the food supply.
  • INCREASE awareness of heart disease and stroke and their risk factors to empower your citizens to take control of their heart health.
  • ALIGN health insurance initiatives and programs with Million Hearts™ goals.
  • IMPLEMENT incentive programs for members to reduce their heart disease risk through lower premiums, less cost sharing, and incentives for behavior change and self-management.
  • BUILD local collaboration and help convene area partners to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of efforts to prevent heart attack and stroke

 

TAKE THE PLEDGE HERE TO PREVENT 1 Million Heart Attacks 

Be one in a Million Hearts™ and see how your work in heart disease and stroke, tobacco, nutrition and wellness programs can make a positive difference.  To pledge your support, please sign up here.

 

 

Million Hearts Releases New Spanish-Language Resources on Heart Health

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Million Hearts™ initiative released several educational resources to help Spanish speakers take control of their heart health. The new products include "How to Control Your Hypertension/Learning to Control Your Sodium Intake," an illustrated fotonovela that offers multigenerational advice on getting high blood pressure under control by reducing sodium.

 

NHLBI Heart Health Webinars Now Available

View and share webinars designed just for CHWs, promotores, health educators, and community program planners. Find information on adult learning principles to motivate behavior change and enhance heart health, data collection to track the progress of your heart health community program, and how to implement NHLBI's heart health programs to help your community members stay healthy, enjoy their lives, and raise their families.

 

The three webinars are:

Approaches to Enhance Learning: Using Adult Learning and Popular Education with the NHLBI Heart Health Curricula

Be the Master of Your Own Data! Collecting and Analyzing Your Heart Health Program Data

Improving Heart Health With Community Health Workers, Promotores, and Community Educators

Resources

Cutting Salt Slowly Could Prolong Half a Million Lives

A new study published in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension found that a gradual decrease in salt consumption over a decade-culminating in a 40% reduction of salt intake-would prolong the lives of between 280,000 and 500,000 people by decreasing the risk for high blood pressure and heart disease. The study is the first of its kind, in which three groups of researchers using different methodologies have come to the same conclusion.

 

New Resource: Sodium Intake for Adults and Children

For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended limits on children's daily consumption of sodium, advising that its recommended maximum level of 2,000 milligrams of sodium per day for adults should be adjusted downward for children. WHO advised its 194 member states that high sodium levels were a factor contributing to elevated blood pressure, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke. WHO recommended that adults consume less than 2,000 milligrams of sodium per day and at least 3,510 milligrams of potassium per day. Click here to access resource.

Did You Know?

March is National Nutrition Month

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has deemed March National Nutrition Month. The theme this year is "Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day." Because most Americans consume more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet, reducing daily sodium intake is one way to help "Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day."  The following tips can help you reduce the amount of sodium in your diet -

  • Buy fresh, frozen (no sauce), or no-salt added canned vegetables.
  • Use fresh poultry, pork, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed meats.
  • When available, buy low sodium, lower sodium, reduced sodium, or no salt added versions of products.
  • Compare Nutrition Facts labels on food packages for percent Daily Value or amount of sodium in milligrams, and choose products with lower amounts of sodium.
  • Local Health Departments should promote encouraging messages on healthy eating tips in March through their social media, e-news, brochures and websites 
Chronic Disease Prevention Toolkit
Million Hearts™ toolkits were designed to help partners incorporate Million Hearts™ into their everyday work and enhancing their heart disease and stroke prevention efforts. They are available for download and use as individual components or as an entire toolkit. Partners can use the resources in the Million Hearts™ Partners Toolkit to expand their existing heart disease and stroke prevention programs and to recruit others to improve clinical preventive practice and community prevention. Click here to access the partners toolkit
Connect with the Chronic Disease Team

NACCHO welcomes requests for chronic disease prevention planning and technical assistance from any local public health department, please send your requests here

 

Find resources, policy statements, news, and more on NACCHO's Chronic Disease webpage.  

 

Want to sign up for NACCHO's tobacco e-newsletter? Click here