Spearheading Million Hearts Delaware

Spearheading Million Hearts Delaware

Million Hearts Logo

Christiana Care is spearheading Million Hearts Delaware, a public-private statewide effort to advance the goal of the national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017.

The Million Hearts Delaware initiative aligns the efforts of hospitals, government, major employers and health care providers throughout the state to combat cardiovascular disease with two specific aims – public awareness and clinical prevention.

Edward Goldenberg, M.D., medical director of Cardiovascular Prevention and Elisabeth Bradley, APN, clinical leader of the Cardiovascular Prevention Program in Christiana Care’s Center for Heart & Vascular Health, initiated Million Hearts Delaware and are co-chairs.

Through public awareness, the campaign is focusing on blood pressure control and waist circumference, key measures to reducing heart attacks and strokes. The goals are to not only identify risk through blood pressure and waist circumference measurements, but also connect individuals with health care providers.

Clinical prevention efforts aim is to improve care for people who need treatment by encouraging a targeted focus on the “ABCS”—Aspirin for people at risk, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management and Smoking cessation—which address the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and can help to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Margot Savoy, M.D., Christiana Care’s medical director of Family Medicine Centers and medical director of Youth Rehabilitative Services, chairs the clinical prevention subcommittee. Marianne Carter, MS, RD, director of the Delaware Center for Health Promotion at Delaware State University, chairs the public awareness subcommittee. Denise Taylor, MS, RD, LDN, is project manager.

Among Delaware adults, obesity prevalence has doubled in the past two decades, from 14.4 percent in 1990 to 28.7 percent in 2010. Currently, 64 percent of Delawarean adults are classified as overweight or obese. Obesity is a behavioral risk factor like using tobacco, being physically inactive, or eating unhealthy, and it can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and several types of cancer.

The economic cost of obesity in Delaware is estimated to be $207 million annually. Data shows that for every dollar spent to prevent chronic disease, we save $5.60 in health care costs.

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