Every year more than 600,000 Americans die from heart disease¹. The number one cause of deaths for most groups, heart disease affects all ages, genders and ethnicities. Risk factors include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and excessive alcohol use.

Health care professionals and community partners: We know you’re busy! There are tools to help. Use these toolkits, developed by the CDC, to implement evidence-based hypertension control strategies. There are tools for healthcare professionals, public health professionals and for individuals and patients. The resources, strategies, and plain language materials in this toolkit can help you communicate with individuals about the consequences of high blood pressure and how they can take charge of their high blood pressure management.

• Share patient-friendly resources in your clinics and virtual waiting rooms
• Link to plain language educational resources to help people learn about high blood pressure
• Copy social messages and graphics and share them with individuals and patients in your social networks
• Use these tools in tandem with the actions recommended in The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Control Hypertension.

Source: CDC Heart Disease Facts 

Through the Great Plains Quality Care Coalition, we are promoting the prevention and management of chronic diseases by supporting providers in preventing cardiovascular events. Healthy behaviors directly contribute to positive health outcomes. Chronic disease self-management education programs also impact the development of long-term change for a healthy lifestyle. Improving health outcomes related to chronic conditions must be a joint effort between healthcare professionals, the community and the individual. From identifying at-risk individuals to providing self-management education and support, every individual contributes to and benefits from a collaborative approach. Learn more.