Arkansas Department of Health Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Section Activities
Working through community, health partners and government, the Arkansas Department of Health’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Section strives to provide prevention programs in community, work site, and health care settings. Program activities include:

American Heart Association’s Search Your Heart and Conozca Su Corazon Programs

• The Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Section has partnered with the American Heart Association (AHA) to promote the Search Your Heart and the Conozca Su Corazón programs. These programs are community-based educational programs and tools designed to reach high-risk audiences. These programs deliver knowledge and action steps to compel people to act upon this knowledge and ultimately reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.

• Search Your Heart and Conozca Su Corazón provide a core curriculum on heart disease and stroke.  The information will help educate and raise awareness of the heart-health disparities among African-American and Hispanic communities and provide them with some insight on how to live a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Both programs contain 3 core activity areas.

• Heart Disease and Stroke/Las enfermedades del corazón y los ataques cerebrales en los hispanos/latinos - Includes what you need to know about the risk factors for heart disease and stroke including cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.
  
  
• Physical Activity/Actividad Física - Learn about the benefits of fitness and how to start a walking club or other group physical activities.
  
  
• Nutrition/Nutrición - Learn about healthy nutrition, food selection and preparation and eating on the run.
  

We provide a Train the Trainer workshop to churches or organizations that are interested in implementing the program. For additional information contact Marilyn Clark at the American Heart Association, (501) 379-1189 or marilyn.clark@heart.org.

Arkansas Chronic Illness Collaborative

• The Arkansas Department of Health’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Section, the Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc., the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, the Arkansas Department of Health’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Section 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 2009 the Arkansas Department of Health’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Section and the Tobacco Prevention Section worked with the Arkansas Wellness Coalition to send out the following items related to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Differential Diagnosis of COPD; GOLD Guidelines COPD Diagnosis and Management: At-A-Glance Desk Reference; My COPD Action Plan and My COPD Checklist:; Helping You Breathe Better; Understanding & Managing Your Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Handout on Pharmacologic Aids to Smoking Cessation and Information about the Arkansas Tobacco Quitline. Please contact the Section 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)

• Staff Directory

Director Allyson Cook ACook@uams.edu 501-686-6617	CME Associate Misty Engler MLEngler@uams.edu 501-686-6016
CME Associate Hazel Redd  HLRedd@uams.edu 501-686-6626	CME Associate Shelley Brown SABrown@uams.edu 501-526-6302




• Email dfpmcme@uams.edu for more information or to register for an upcoming program.
  

• Sessions offered provide free CME to primary care and emergency room physicians and other health care professionals such as pharmacists, nurses (advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses), certified health education specialists (CHES), social workers, and other allied health professionals.

The Delta States Stroke Network (DSSN) is a partnership of our five-states, coordinated by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) and funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. The DSSN brings together state agencies and their partners from thirty organizations to identify and address factors associated with the high mortality rate of stroke in the Delta region. States represented by the network 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 the United States, and it continues to be a national health concern. Stroke is the 3rd leading cause of death in the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and the 5th leading cause of death in Mississippi.
  
  
• The states of Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi rank as numbers 1, 2, 3, 7 and 9 respectively in stroke mortality in the United States.
  
  
• The DSSN developed a Consensus Statement, to be signed by the five State Health Officers of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. The purpose is to obtain consensus in order to collaborate, to the fullest extent possible and allowable, to implement projects and interventions to reduce the burden of stroke regionally.
  
  
• The DSSN has six Workgroups, which consists of representatives from all five states. The Workgroups are: (1) Policy and Advocacy; (2) Integration and Media; (3) Access to Care; (4) Training and Education; (5) Data Support and (6) Funding. The groups meet monthly by teleconference to develop objectives and strategies to accomplish workgroup goals identified at our General Meeting with partners in October 2008.
  
  
• The Arkansas Department of Health's primary role as the coordinating agency is to facilitate projects, coordinate interventions, and support the network in achieving its mission.
  
  
• The DSSN worked with the Tennessee Department of Health and the Tennessee Hospital Association to fund a pilot Tele-stroke project in June 2008. A key training partner for this project is Vanderbilt University.
  
  
• For more information contact Barbara Pauly at (501) 280-4720.
  

Acute Stroke Care Task Force for Arkansas

The Arkansas Acute Stroke Care Task Force was established through Act 663 during the regular session of the 85th General Assembly.  Act 663 designates twelve members to be appointed by the Director of the Arkansas Department of Health to the Task Force representing the following organizations and constituencies : Department of Health, American Heart Association, Arkansas Minority Health Commission, The Arkansas Hospital Association, Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, Division of Medical Services of the Department of Human Services, emergency medical services, Arkansas Medical Society, medical insurance industry, community at large and the Arkansas Medical, Dental and Pharmacy Association. 

The Stroke Care Task Force is charged with coordinating 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 reports its recommendations annually to the Board of Health.


The Task Force meets the first Thursday of each month from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the American Heart Association Building, 909 West Second Street, Little Rock, AR.  Meetings are open to the public. 

The Task Force has met since January 2007 and has completed the following tasks:     


1. Completed a review of the stroke burden in Arkansas;
2. Reviewed existing model programs for acute stroke care;
3. Developed a conceptual framework for a model stroke program in the state, including prevention as well as acute care, rehabilitation care, and follow-up care;
4. Initiated discussions of the status of the current systems of stroke care in the state, including gaps in and barriers to making changes in the system; and
5. Reviewed existing sources of information about stroke care in the state, and began the process of identifying missing data elements.

In completing these tasks, the members have heard from invited guests, such as the EMS/Trauma Section at the Department of Health and the Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support (SAVES) Program at the UAMS Center for Distance Health and Regional Hospital Programs. Staff from the American Heart Association keeps the task force informed about state and national legislative initiatives relating to stroke and members provide their expertise on stroke issues as representatives from their respective organizations.

Short term goals and recommendations include the following:


1. Increase awareness of importance of stroke prevention and rapid response
2. Improve skills of first-responders in identification of possible stroke and initiation of guideline-concordant care en route to hospital
3. Promote availability of support for emergency department personnel throughout the state via telemedicine
4. Assess existing capacity of hospitals in state to treat stroke patients

Long term goals and recommendations include the following:

1. Develop stroke registry to monitor quality indicators of stroke care
2. Promote the development of guideline-concordant care protocols in hospitals throughout the state

Small Steps, Great Strides Toward a Healthier Arkansas
A comprehensive plan for cardiovascular health (heart disease and stroke) in 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 Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention’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 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.
  

“Heart and Stroke Warning Signs and Symptoms” Media Campaign

• The Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention 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 Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention 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 Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention 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 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.