CARING: Taking cardiovascular risk reduction education to the fifth grade classroom and beyond

CARING (Caring, Reaching out, and Involving Communities) is a community health nursing education initiative of The CARDIAC (Coronary Artery Risk Detection In Appalachian Communities) Project—a chronic disease risk surveillance and intervention initiative designed to combat the unacceptably high prevalence of heart disease and diabetes in West Virginia (cardiacwv.org). As a hands-on teaching/learning experience, CARING emphasizes the 8 tenets of public health nursing indentified by the Quad Council in 1997. CARING serves a subset of the statewide fifth grade CARDIAC sample through a strong collaboration between the CARDIAC team, which includes multi-disciplinary members from local universities in West Virginia, senior community nursing students and nursing faculty at a small private college in Central West Virginia. Primary prevention is the focus of the five-lesson curriculum which includes basic cardio-pulmonary anatomy and physiology, stress management, tobacco avoidance, healthy eating and physical activity. Interactive teaching/learning strategies including games and role play are utilized to engage fifth graders, thus providing for a caring presence and facilitating a dynamic teacher/learner relationship. Fifth graders are encouraged to become agents of change by promoting a healthy environment for themselves, their peers, and family members through each lesson. While the CARING curriculum was developed for delivery by senior nursing students, the lessons are user friendly, encourage individual creativity, and respect individual presenter's comfort levels. Participants in this session will be invited to join in the games and role play used as interactive teaching/learning strategies by the CARING team in the classroom.