2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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333149
Dance your Heart Out (DYHO): A “moving” hospital-led, community-based initiative to engage African American women in physical activity, health screenings and education to prevent heart disease


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Richard Derman, MD MPH, Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, DE
Omar Khan, MD, MHS, FAAFP, Primary Care & Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Karen Anthony, MS, CHES, Department of Family & Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
African American women are disproportionally affected by heart disease.  Lack of physical activity comes with significant risks including high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Most national surveys report that U.S. adults do not meet physical activity recommendations. To address these issues, Christiana Care Health System hosts Dance Your Heart Out, a huge annual event that attracts a majority African American audience.  We provide health education, screenings and dance to promote physical activity and prevent heart disease.  We use a “health-u-tainment” strategy to engage attendees in a fun, educational way.  Clinical providers screen attendees for blood pressure, bone density and body mass index (BMI).  Educational displays and messages on electronic boards deliver key prevention messages. Community partners lead attendees in dance routines. Attendance continues to grow from 225 in 2010 to a record high of 550 attendees in 2014. Over four years, we provided 1,625 screenings: 453 bone density, 662 blood pressures and 510 BMI.  Evaluation surveys show that on average, 56% of attendees are African American females. On average 87% of attendees reported that the event motivated them to start a fitness routine, 96% said the event motivated them to increase their physical activity and 85% said that they planned to discuss their screening results with their doctor.  Within the last three years the return on investment results show a $4.64 return for every dollar spent on marketing. Dance Your Heart Out successfully uses health-u-tainment to deliver health education in an upbeat, interactive environment reaching those at highest risk.

Learning Areas:

Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe a unique strategy to reach African American women to promote physical activity. List the hospital and community based partnerships that comprise a succesful formula to plan & execute an event that promotes health lifestyles and reaches a majority African American audience.

Keyword(s): African American, Health Promotion and Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Senior Program Manager working within the Community Health and Preventive Medicine department of a large health system. I have also been the co-chair for the Dance Your Heart Out event the past three years.
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: 5022.2: Population Approaches to Public Health Education and Health Promotion