Cardiovascular Health Campaign

Description

Million Hearts Campaign

Overview

Heart disease and stroke are the first and fourth leading causes of death in the United States. Heart disease is responsible for one (1) of every three (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.

The Million Hearts™ initiative will focus, coordinate, and enhance cardiovascular disease prevention activities across the public and private sectors in an unprecedented effort to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over five years and demonstrate to the American people that improving the health system can save lives. Million Hearts™ will scale-up proven clinical and community strategies to prevent heart disease and stroke across the nation.

Million Hearts™ brings together existing efforts and new programs to improve health across communities and help Americans live longer, healthier, more productive lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are the co-leaders of Million Hearts™ within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, working alongside other federal agencies including the Administration on Aging, National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Food and Drug Administration, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Office of the National Coordinator, and the Veterans Administration. Key private-sector partners include the American Heart Association, and YMCA, among many others.

Source: http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/aboutmh/overview.html

What We Are Doing Locally

The Virgin Islands Medical Institute, Inc. (VIMI) the healthcare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1977 has joined the Millions Hearts campaign to save hearts focused on reducing and preventing heart disease and stroke in our Territory.

VIMI is focused on the ABCs, Appropriate Aspirin Therapy; Blood Pressure Control; Cholesterol Management; and Smoking Cessation. We are reaching out to physician practices and other healthcare providers to participate by taking the pledge; displaying the Save Your Heart posters at their site; and speaking to their patients about better heart health practices.

Help Us Save Hearts!

Resources

Million Hearts Campaign Fact Sheet

Million Hearts Campaign Posters

VIMI has tailored messages from the Million Hearts™ campaign and has developed “Save Your Heart” posters that highlight Blood Pressure control, Cholesterol control and the ABCS. Our goal is to have these posters displayed in visible areas in our hospitals, physician practices, health centers, and in any other health related facility. The messages are simple, and highlight general tips and basic practices for having a healthy heart. We want patients to see the posters, read the messages, understand how simple it is to take better care of their hearts, and then do it.

Spanish posters are also available:

Thumbnail to Million Hearts Spanish Poster 1

Thumbnail to Million Hearts Spanish Poster 2

Thumbnail to Million Hearts Spanish Poster 3

Symposiums

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire!

On Thursday, February 7, 2013, The Virgin Islands Medical Institute, Inc. (VIMI) the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for the U.S Virgin Islands was invited to present on the Million HeartsTM initiative at the "3rd annual Virgin Islands Cardiac Symposium - The Heartbeat of the Caribbean". Dr. Cora L.E Christian, the Medical Director for VIMI, gave the opening remarks and kicked-off the first day (Community Day) at the symposium.

For this event, VIMI wanted to make the presentation fun and engaging so that it may serve as an educational tool for the audience. Due to the significant interest of reality game shows in the Territory, VIMI presented the Million HeartsTM initiative information using the game show format of “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”

The questions addressed the ABCs of the Million HeartsTM initiative, national heart health facts, specific facts for men and women’s health, and healthy heart tips and practices. ‘Fake’ money was designed for each level of the game ranging from $100.00 to $1,000,000.00 dollars that was awarded to the contestants as they advanced. Each denomination had a healthy heart tip on the front that the contestants would read out to the audience and on the back was a call-to-action to pledge their support for the Million HeartsTM Initiative.

The presentation was very well received and the audience expressed that the game show format was innovative and complimented VIMI for our ingenuity. Currently, the presentation is being run on the local Government Access Channel – Channel 6. VIMI will continue to use this format as an educational tool in the future.

Press Coverage:

A Million Healthy, American Hearts; One at a Time Starting at JFL

Photos

View the embedded image gallery online at:
http://viqio.org/what-we-do/improving-health-for-populations-and-communities/cardiovascular-health-campaign#sigProGalleria70f15d9ad6