Developing innovative strategies to screen and educate racial/ethnic minorities about cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention at an academic medical center

Racial and ethnic minorities have a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) which may be due, in part, to a greater prevalence and poorer control of risk factors. To reduce disparities, innovative strategies to identify and educate high risk individuals need to be developed and tested.

Our academic medical center has been screening/educating family members/co-habitants of patients hospitalized with CVD based on the rationale that families share genetic and lifestyle risk. Hospitalization for CVD may represent a “motivational moment” for lifestyle changes. The Health Belief Model suggests individuals who feel susceptible to disease are most likely to take preventive action. Data on the initial 1,500 participants showed that 70% of those screened had two or more major modifiable risk factors for CVD and that minorities were disproportionately affected. The screening/education program was successfully exported to a university affiliated hospital in Harlem, NY that services nearly 100% racial/ethnic minorities.

We expanded the outreach beyond the borders of our academic medical center to target high risk employees and community members; a large percent being racial/ethnic minorities. We also engaged multidisciplinary programs to include screening of peripheral vascular, carotid and periodontal diseases.

The impact of screening and education on hospital resource utilization and CVD risk factors at one year will be evaluated. We believe a multidisciplinary CVD outreach program that includes early identification, education, and facilitates referrals of high risk individuals will help reduce disparities in preventive care and potentially in clinical outcomes.