2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

325392
No Heart Left Behind: Successful delivery of mental, nutritional and cardiovascular health messages to both teens and adults


Wednesday, November 4, 2015 : 9:30 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.

Lanae Ampersand, LCSW, MSW, CPS, William Penn School-Based Health Center, Christiana Care Health System, New Castle, DE
Christopher C. Moore, BA, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Kathy A. Cannatelli, MS, Department of Family & Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Omar Khan, MD, MHS, FAAFP, Primary Care & Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: In the at-risk adolescent population, cardiovascular disease, mental health issues and challenges with healthy nutrition continue to cause serious public health concerns.  By increasing awareness of these health issues and risk factors, there is increased potential to positively impact attitudes and beliefs around health and wellness. This presentation will offer findings from  No Heart Left Behind (NHLB), a health education program, which is designed to increase teens' knowledge, ability to make healthy changes, and confidence to work with an adult for health education.

Method: Between July 2013 and December 2014, NHLB reached 1980 individuals through outreach, and tracked 337 teens and adults through nutrition, physical activity and mental health education.  NHLB staff positively affected precursors to hypertension, high cholesterol, etc. by improving health behaviors.  They also increased teens’ knowledge and confidence in making healthy lifestyle changes, as well as teaching them skills to coach the adults in their lives to improve their heart health and associated risk factors. 

Findings: Aggregate results from 8 groups indicated adults increased daily servings of fruit from 1.6 to 2.8 servings and daily servings of vegetables from 1.9 to 2.8.  Participants’ weekly fast food restaurant patronage decreased from 2.2 to 0.9 weekly visits. Teens reported a decrease in consumption of sugar sweetened beverages from 3.17 to 2.29, a challenging target for community health programming.

Implications: Through NHLB, we have demonstrated the positive impact a health promotion program can have on teens and adults, with hopes that if replicated, its impact on public health could be far-reaching.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the impact of No Heart Left Behind on teens and adults in their lives Define the program's objectives Identify successes and opportunities based on program experiences and qualitative feedback

Keyword(s): Community-Based Health, Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been an LCSW working in school-based health centers for many years; in addition, I was part of the team which created the No Heart Left Behind program and evaluation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5073.0: Integrated Mental Health and Chronic Disease Intervention Strategies (organized jointly with the Mental Health section)