scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Comprehensive Health Education Programming to Decrease Cardiovascular Health Disparities: The Case of HeartSmarts

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Naa-Solo Tettey
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
New York ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Low Health Literacy ◽  
Comprehensive Health ◽  
Health Related

INTRODUCTION: Chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, affect African Americans at disproportionately higher rates due in part to low health literacy and a lack of comprehensive health education programs. PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the effectiveness of HeartSmarts, a culturally tailored, comprehensive cardiovascular health education program, in improving cardiovascular health literacy. METHODS: Peer health educators were trained to deliver an extensive curriculum focused on cardiovascular disease and its risk factors. Upon completion, they delivered this curriculum in their churches and communities. Pre- and post-assessments were administered for blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, and knowledge of cardiovascular disease. RESULTS: Fourteen predominantly African American churches in New York City participated, and 199 participants completed the program. Participants experienced decreases in blood pressure and weight, improved their health-related behaviors, and significantly increased their knowledge of cardiovascular health. CONCLUSION: The HeartSmarts program demonstrates the effectiveness of using a comprehensive health education approach to help combat these issues. Programs that use strategies similar to HeartSmarts should be implemented for other health conditions to decrease health disparities.

Abstract 12944: Geographical Variations in Cardiovascular Health in China: A Nationwide Population-based Survey of 74,771 Adults

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Zhang ◽  
Yu Shi ◽  
Oumin Shi ◽  
Zhenping Zhao ◽  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Significant Heterogeneity ◽  
Chinese Adults ◽  
Ideal Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Geographical Variations ◽  
Health Factors

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in China. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the levels of cardiovascular health among Chinese adults and to understand the geographic patterns based on a nationally and provincially representative survey. Methods: In 2015, a total of 74,771 respondents aged ≥ 20 years with no history of cardiovascular disease were randomly sampled from 298 counties/districts of 31 provinces in mainland China and were interviewed. Seven metrics, including smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting glucose, were determined. Ideal cardiovascular health was defined as the simultaneous presence of all metrics at the ideal level. A score ranging from 0 to 14 was calculated as the sum of all seven metrics for each province. Scores for four health behaviors and four health factors were also calculated. Results: The age-adjusted prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health was only 1.13% among Chinese adults above 20 years old in 2015 (0.50% among men and 1.77% among women; 1.63% among urban residents and 0.68% among rural residents). The age-adjusted prevalence varied greatly across provinces, ranging from 0.05% in Qinghai to 2.97% in Heilongjiang. Ideal diet (7.4%) was the least common among seven cardiovascular health metrics and ideal blood pressure (32.2%) was the second least one. We also saw significant heterogeneity among provinces in age-adjusted cardiovascular health score, health behavior score, and health factors score. In all provinces, women had higher scores than men for cardiovascular health, health behaviors and health factors. Differences in cardiovascular health and health behavior scores between urban and rural areas were associated with levels of socio-economic development. Conclusions: Strategies for addressing poor cardiovascular health require geographic targeting and localized consideration.

scholarly journals Elder Health Literacy

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The Public ◽  
Low Health Literacy ◽  
Populations At Risk ◽  
Health Education Materials

The public health impact of limited literacy has begun to be explored. The elderly and those with limited formal education are often the most vulnerable populations at risk of having low health literacy. Health promotion specialists must be cognizant of the literacy demands of health education materials (e.g., pamphlets, questionnaires) distributed to the elderly. Care must be taken to ensure that health education materials are both linguistically and culturally appropriate for whom they are intended.

scholarly journals Relationship between Determinants of Health, Equity, and Dimensions of Health Literacy in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 2082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Cabellos-García ◽  
Enrique Castro-Sánchez ◽  
Antonio Martínez-Sabater ◽  
Miguel Ángel Díaz-Herrera ◽  
Ana Ocaña-Ortiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Structural Determinants ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Individual Level

Background: Health literacy (HL) has been linked to empowerment, use of health services, and equity. Evaluating HL in people with cardiovascular health problems would facilitate the development of suitable health strategies care and reduce inequity. Aim: To investigate the relationship between different dimensions that make up HL and social determinants in patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods: Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study in patients with cardiovascular disease, aged 50–85 years, accessing primary care services in Valencia (Spain) in 2018–2019. The Health Literacy Questionnaire was used. Results: 252 patients. Age was significantly related with the ability to participate with healthcare providers (p = 0.043), ability to find information (p = 0.022), and understanding information correctly to know what to do (p = 0.046). Level of education was significant for all HL dimensions. Patients without studies scored lower in all dimensions. The low- versus middle-class social relationship showed significant results in all dimensions. Conclusions: In patients with cardiovascular disease, level of education and social class were social determinants associated with HL scores. Whilst interventions at individual level might address some HL deficits, inequities in access to cardiovascular care and health outcomes would remain unjustly balanced unless structural determinants of HL are taken into account.

scholarly journals Cardiovascular Health, Adiposity, and Food Insecurity in an Underserved Population

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candice A. Myers ◽  
Corby K. Martin ◽  
Robert L. Newton ◽  
John W. Apolzan ◽  
Connie L. Arnold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Mixed Models ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
Heart Association ◽  
Interaction Terms ◽  
Low Health Literacy ◽  
Underserved Patients ◽  
Race And Health

This study investigated associations between cardiovascular health (CVH), adiposity, and food insecurity by race, sex, and health literacy in a sample of 800 underserved patients with obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m2). CVH was assessed using American Heart Association Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) and adiposity was estimated using BMI and waist circumference (WC). Mixed models including interaction terms between food insecurity and sex, race, and health literacy were analyzed for LS7, BMI, and WC. Stratified models were analyzed as indicated by significant interactions. Mean BMI and WC were 37.3 kg/m2 (4.6 SD) and 113.5 cm (12.4 SD), respectively. Among patients, 31% were food insecure and 31% had low health literacy. There were significant positive associations between food insecurity and BMI (p = 0.03) and WC (p = 0.03) in the overall sample. In sex-stratified models, women who were food insecure had higher BMI (p = 0.02) and WC (p = 0.007) than their food secure counterparts. Further, food insecure patients with better health literacy had greater BMI (p = 0.004) and WC (p = 0.007) than their food secure counterparts. Results suggest that adiposity is a greater burden in food insecure patients, which may be an important consideration for obesity treatment in underserved populations.

scholarly journals Smartphones and Video Cameras: Future Methods for Blood Pressure Measurement

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Steinman ◽  
Andrew Barszczyk ◽  
Hong-Shuo Sun ◽  
Kang Lee ◽  
Zhong-Ping Feng
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Blood Pressure Measurement ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
Lighting Conditions ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Learning Techniques

Regular blood pressure (BP) monitoring enables earlier detection of hypertension and reduces cardiovascular disease. Cuff-based BP measurements require equipment that is inconvenient for some individuals and deters regular home-based monitoring. Since smartphones contain sensors such as video cameras that detect arterial pulsations, they could also be used to assess cardiovascular health. Researchers have developed a variety of image processing and machine learning techniques for predicting BP via smartphone or video camera. This review highlights research behind smartphone and video camera methods for measuring BP. These methods may in future be used at home or in clinics, but must be tested over a larger range of BP and lighting conditions. The review concludes with a discussion of the advantages of the various techniques, their potential clinical applications, and future directions and challenges. Video cameras may potentially measure multiple cardiovascular metrics including and beyond BP, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

scholarly journals Efek Red Wine Terhadap Kesehatan Kardiovaskular

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thalia W. Malingkas ◽  
Stefana H. M. Kaligis ◽  
Murniati Tiho
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Prospective Study ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Red Wine ◽  
Red Grape ◽  
Armed Intervention ◽  
Double Blinded ◽  
Single Blind

Abstract: Many studies showed that antioxidants contained polyphenols and flavonoids such as red wine could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. This study’s purpose is to determine the effect of red wine on cardiovascular health. This is a literature review using three databases: Pubmed, Google Scholar and Clinical Key. The keywords using to search the articles are red wine AND cardiovascular disease AND antioxidant OR antioksidan AND flavonoid. After being selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, ten literatures were found. The research methods using in the literatures were very varied, which were a cross-over study, single blind cross-over, double-blinded, comprised two study days, parallel four-armed intervention, experimental, randomized, and prospective study. The subjects in these studies were also varied, from healthy people to people with cardiovascular disorders and with other health problems. Besides red wine, interventions with dealcoholized red wine and red grape polyphenol extract (RGPE) also were used in some studies. However, the results from all studies showed that consuming red wine has a good effect on cardiovascular health, measured from LDL and HDL blood level, FMD and systolic blood pressure. In conclusion, red wine consumption has beneficial effects on cardiovascular health.Keywords: red wine, antioxidant, cardiovascular health, polyphenol, flavonoid  Abstrak: Banyak penelitian menunjukkan bahwa antioksidan yang mengandung polifenol dan flavonoid seperti red wine dapat menurunkan risiko penyakit kardiovaskular. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui efek red wine terhadap kesehatan kardiovaskular. Penelitian ini berbentuk literature review menggunakan tiga database yaitu Pubmed, Google Scholar, dan Clinical Key.  Kata kunci yang digunakan dalam pencarian artikel yaitu red wine AND cardiovascular disease AND antioxidant OR antioksidan AND flavonoid. Setelah diseleksi berdasarkan kriteria inklusi dan eksklusi, didapatkan 10 literatur yang memenuhi kriteria. Literatur-literatur yang ditemukan menggunakan metode penelitian beragam yaitu cross-over study, single blind cross-over, double-blinded, comprised two study days, parallel four-armed intervention, experimental, randomized, dan prospective study. Subjek yang berpartisipasi dalam studi-studi tersebut juga bervariasi, yaitu terdiri dari orang yang sehat, orang dengan ganguan kardiovaskular dan orang dengan gangguan kesehatan lainnya. Selain red wine, intervensi menggunakan dealcoholized red wine, dan red grape polyphenol extract (RGPE) juga dilakukan pada beberapa studi. Meskipun demikian, hasil yang didapatkan dari semua studi menunjukkan bahwa mengonsumsi red wine memberikan efek yang baik terhadap kesehatan kardiovaskular, yang dilihat dari pengukuran LDL dan HDL darah, FMD dan systolic blood pressure. Sebagai simpulan konsumsi red wine memberikan efek yang bermanfaat bagi kesehatan kardiovaskular.Kata Kunci: red wine, antioksidan, kesehatan kardiovaskular, polifenol, flavonoid

scholarly journals Online decision aids for primary cardiovascular disease prevention: systematic search, evaluation of quality and suitability for low health literacy patients

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e025173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carissa Bonner ◽  
Pinika Patel ◽  
Michael Anthony Fajardo ◽  
Ruixuan Zhuang ◽  
Lyndal Trevena
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Shared Decision Making ◽  
Decision Aids ◽  
Shared Decision ◽  
Low Health Literacy ◽  
Lower Health ◽  
Cvd Prevention ◽  
Lower Health Literacy

ObjectivesRecent guideline changes for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention medication have resulted in calls to implement shared decision-making rather than arbitrary treatment thresholds. Less attention has been paid to existing tools that could facilitate this. Decision aids are well-established tools that enable shared decision-making and have been shown to improve CVD prevention adherence. However, it is unknown how many CVD decision aids are publicly available for patients online, what their quality is like and whether they are suitable for patients with lower health literacy, for whom the burden of CVD is greatest. This study aimed to identify and evaluate all English language, publicly available online CVD prevention decision aids.DesignSystematic review of public websites in August to November 2016 using an environmental scan methodology, with updated evaluation in April 2018. The decision aids were evaluated based on: (1) suitability for low health literacy populations (understandability, actionability and readability); and (2) International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS).Primary outcome measuresUnderstandability and actionability using the validated Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Printed Materials (PEMAT-P scale), readability using Gunning–Fog and Flesch–Kincaid indices and quality using IPDAS V.3 and V.4.ResultsA total of 25 unique decision aids were identified. On the PEMAT-P scale, the decision aids scored well on understandability (mean 87%) but not on actionability (mean 61%). Readability was also higher than recommended levels (mean Gunning–Fog index=10.1; suitable for grade 10 students). Four decision aids met criteria to be considered a decision aid (ie, met IPDAS qualifying criteria) and one sufficiently minimised major bias (ie, met IPDAS certification criteria).ConclusionsPublicly available CVD prevention decision aids are not suitable for low literacy populations and only one met international standards for certification. Given that patients with lower health literacy are at increased risk of CVD, this urgently needs to be addressed.

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