DHHS Division of Health Cardiovascular Health Section Activities
Working through community, health partners and government, the DHHS Division of Health’s Cardiovascular Health Section (CVH) strives to provide prevention programs in community, work site, and health care settings. Program activities include:

American Heart Association’s “Search Your Heart” Program

• The Cardiovascular Health Section (CVH) has partnered with the American Heart Association (AHA) to promote a faith-based education program called “Search Your Heart”. This program is a community-based heart health and stroke prevention program designed to educate at-risk African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos about the causes, symptoms and prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke, utilizing six activity modules: screenings (blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes), nutrition, physical activity, advocacy, stroke education and prevention and stress reduction. The program can also be tailored for other populations as well. Interested churches or organizations are asked to sign a participant commitment form. We provide a Train the Trainer workshop and free Search Your Heart Kits to churches or organizations that are interested in implementing the program.
  
  
• An abstract entitled “Addressing Health Disparities of CVD and Stroke among African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos” was submitted and accepted as a poster presentation for CDC’s 2006 National Health Promotion Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia during September. Authors of the abstract were Sherry Johnson and Lauren Barnes with the Cardiovascular Health Section and Marilyn Clark with the American Heart Association.
  

Arkansas Chronic Illness Collaborative

• The DHHS Division of Health’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Section, the Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc., the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, the DHHS Division of Health’s Cardiovascular Health Section (CVH) and the Arkansas Health Education Centers have teamed up to implement a model of care for Arkansans statewide diagnosed with diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular disease. The principles to improve care for these chronic conditions will serve as a template for managing varying chronic illnesses. Over a 13-month period the collaborative participants learn to implement an organizational approach to caring for people with diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease in the primary care setting. For further information please access the Chronic Illness Collaborative link. http://www.arkansashearthealth.com/chronic_illness/chronic_illness.html

Arkansas Wellness Coalition

• In June 2006 the DHHS Division of Health’s Cardiovascular Health Section worked with the Arkansas Wellness Coalition to send out the following tools: the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7), an American Heart Association (AHA) Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Weight Tracker, and a patient education sheet entitled “What is High Blood Pressure? ". This information was distributed to over 3,000 health care professionals across the state. Please contact the Program for copies of these materials.

Training Activities

• Our Intervention Specialist travels the state to provide heart and stroke health education to partner and community groups and businesses as requested. She has presented several presentations on topics such as the Search Your Heart Program, Know Stroke, Heart Healthy and Stroke-free Worksites, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

• The following are dates and topics for the 4th Annual Cardiovascular Update CME ITV Series. This series is funded by the Arkansas Department of Health’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Section.
  

• These sessions provide one hour of free CME to healthcare providers, pharmacists and health educators. To pre-register for the Little Rock location, please email Hazel Redd at HLRedd@uams.edu or to register via recorded message, call (501) 603-1660. To speak with the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine CME personnel, please call (501) 686-6626 or (501) 686-6016. For additional information you may visit their website at http://cme.uams.edu.

Delta States Stroke Consortium

• The Delta States Stroke Consortium (DSSC), a five-state collaborative effort coordinated by the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The DSSC brings together academic, government, business, and community leaders to identify and address factors associated with the high rate of strokes in the southeast. States represented by the consortium are Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee - five of the eight southeastern states comprising the "stroke belt," where the stroke death rate is 1.5 times the national average.
  
  
• Stroke is the #3 cause of death in Arkansas, and it continues to be a national health concern. It has been shown that the advances in the management of stroke have trailed those accomplished in other fields (e.g. coronary insufficiency and acute myocardial infarction) by approximately 10-15 years. The DSSC has developed a training course, Fundamentals of Acute Stroke Treatment (FAST) intended to fill the vacuum created by differences in knowledge, information, experience and resources among health care professionals in different environments, including pre-hospital and emergency hospital care. The FAST training manual is available by the DSSC as a tool to address the needs of patients in the midst of the cerebrovascular crisis represented by stroke.
  
  
• The CVH Section Chief serves as co-chairman of the Identification of the Signs and Symptoms of Stroke workgroup and is a member of the steering committee. Other working groups which includes representatives from all five states are: (1) Risk Factor Prevention and Control; (2) Identification of the Signs and Symptoms of Stroke; (3) Transportation, Emergency Medical Services Care and Acute Care; (4) Rehabilitation Management; (5) Secondary Stroke Prevention. The groups have mapped out strategies for accomplishing their objectives. The University of Alabama’s School of Public Health's primary role as the coordinating institution is to facilitate and support the consortium in achieving its mission.
  
  
• The DSSC supported the “Act in Time” radio ads that ran in Arkansas during the month of May, which is National Stroke month.
  
  
• The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke’s” Know Stroke. Know the Signs. Act in Time.” community education kits were provided to the Cardiovascular Health Section by the DSSC and these have been distributed to external and internal partners.
  
  
• The Delta States Stroke Consortium is looking for new representatives for Arkansas. For more information contact Linda Faulkner at (501) 661-2956 or access their website at www.deltastroke.org

Acute Stroke Care Task Force for Arkansas

• The 85th General Assembly created Act 663 to establish an acute stroke care task force to coordinate statewide efforts to combat the debilitating effects of strokes on Arkansans; to improve health care for stroke victims; and for other purposes. The Task Force consists of twelve members as set out in the legislation. The first organizational meeting of the members was held in November 2006.

Small Steps, Great Strides Toward a Healthier Arkansas
A comprehensive plan for cardiovascular health (heart disease and stroke) in
Arkansas DHHS Division of Health/Healthy Arkansas

• "Small Steps, Great Strides toward a Healthier Arkansas" is a comprehensive plan to reduce the burden of heart disease and stroke in Arkansas 2001-2010, 1st Edition. This plan is the synergistic efforts of the Cardiovascular Health Section’s Task Force. Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, is the nation’s leading cause of death and a major cause of disability, costing the Arkansas economy over $1 billion in hospital charges in 2003. The intent of the State Plan is to provide the framework for moving forward in a new era of addressing heart disease and stroke in Arkansas. To view and download the State Plan, visit the Data Sources link on the Cardiovascular Health Section website or email us to request a hard copy.

ARCHES Grant: Arkansas Receives Funding for Statewide Health Examination Survey

• Arkansas was one of only three states that received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct a statewide health examination survey. This award is the first of its kind in the nation and was awarded as a supplement to the Division's Cardiovascular Health Section. Kansas and Washington also received funding. ARCHES is funded by the Cardiovascular Health Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and includes a grant award of $759,000 over the two-year project period.
  
  
• Arkansas has the highest stroke death rate in the country, and the fifth highest heart disease death rate. High blood pressure and high cholesterol levels are major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. The Arkansas Cardiovascular Health Examination Survey (ARCHES) allows the state to measure these and other important risk factors for the first time among a sample of the general population. This information will prove useful in the design of activities and policies to address risk factors for heart disease and stroke among the most vulnerable segments of the population.
  
  
• "We are very excited to get this award," said Dr. Namvar Zohoori, who was Chief Epidemiology Officer and State Chronic Disease Epidemiologist at the time. "There are many people in Arkansas who have high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, but are not aware of it, or their levels may not be under control. ARCHES will allow us to identify the levels and address them."

EMS Stroke Scale

• Working with the DHHS Division of Health Section of EMS and Trauma, the CVH Section supported the purchase of EMScan software to upgrade existing software to incorporate data elements of the LA Stroke Scale into the Pre-Hospital Reports used by ambulance services licensed in Arkansas. Information collected from the updated system allows the EMS/Trauma Section to analyze data and provide reports regarding stroke rates and care in this setting. Web based training is being developed to train basic and advanced EMT personnel on the use of the updated Pre-Hospital Care Reports.

American Heart Association’s “Get With The Guidelines”

• “Get With The Guidelines” is the premier hospital-based quality improvement program for the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. It empowers healthcare provider teams to consistently treat patients in accordance with the most up-to-date guidelines.
  
  
• The GWTG Program will assist hospitals in creating care maps and algorithms that will ensure that patients are initiated and discharged on appropriate medication and undergo lifestyle modification counseling that will prevent future episodes. In addition to tracking the treatment of the patient, the Patient Management Tool will automatically create educational brochures according to the patient’s specific risk factors, generate a discharge physician’s note that can be faxed over the internet to the patient’s private physician, and accumulate and measure compliance rates so hospitals can benchmark themselves against other systems.
  
  
• The DHHS Division of Health’s Cardiovascular Health Section funded the software for 5 rural hospitals for Coronary Artery Disease patients. These hospitals are:

2007 County Grants

• The CVH Section awarded $300,000 in County Grants to 18 organizations ranging from $2,029 to $25,000. Priorities of the Request for Application (RFA) were: control high blood pressure/high cholesterol, know signs and symptoms, call 9-1-1, improve emergency response, improve quality of care- prevent first and second events, control risk factors and eliminate disparities. Grant training was held to educate recipients on filling out sub-grant forms, monitoring protocols, and evaluation techniques. The 18 organizations receiving grants were:

• The scope of work addressed included heart disease and stroke health in worksites, communities, and health sites. Please contact us if interested in applying for a grant.

“Heart and Stroke Warning Signs and Symptoms” Media Campaign

• The CVH Section conducted a heart and stroke Warning Signs and Symptoms and “Know Your Numbers” radio campaign, that ran statewide during February – National Heart Month; May – National Stroke Month and Hypertension Education Month and June to reach the largest number of the general public and African Americans in a community setting to increase their knowledge of heart attack and stroke warning signs and symptoms and to call 9-1-1; and to know their blood pressure numbers.
  
  
• The ads ran in 73 of the 75 Arkansas Counties. Voice-overs for ads included gender and race specific voices for ads running on stations with a high percentage of African American listeners. The Section developed its own ads with the assistance of the radio station staff using American Heart Association accredited information. The ads were heard by over a 1,600,000 listeners during the campaign.

Arkansas Minority Health Commission’s Hypertension Program

• The CVH Section supports the Arkansas Minority Health Commission’s (AMHC) Hypertension Program in Delta counties and Pulaski County. The Section funds the Blood Pressure Training and Certification Sessions that the AMHC conducts to health educators, lay volunteers, school nurses and others to ensure blood pressure screening activities are administered appropriately. Those screened, needing further evaluation with little or no insurance, are referred to the Community Health Centers or if they have insurance, to their own providers.

Arkansas River Trail Medical Mile

• The Arkansas River Trail Medical Mile is a national first-of-its kind public health education/outdoor linear museum project. The Medical Mile is a combination of a plaza, promenade, and three-dimensional mural wall which takes its users and visitors on a one mile section of trail filled with health prevention information based on the concept of “Physical Fitness = better nutrition=smoking cessation + warning signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke “and other health risks to improve an individual’s chances of obtaining a healthier lifestyle, longer life and avoiding chronic disease. This effort has taken an inordinate amount of research, innovative design and careful planning to execute.
  
  
• The Cardiovascular Health Section was instrumental in supporting the Healthy Arkansas and the heart attack and stroke warning signs and symptoms murals along the Medical Mile. The Opening kick off and press conference to display these individual murals was November 10, 2006 and we encourage you to take a walk along the Medical Mile starting at the downtown River Market and walking west along the river behind the Peabody Hotel.