Heart Truth for Women – May 2012 – Women’s Health Month

The National Heart Lungs & Blood Institute (NHLBI) , the NIH and various other women-based organizations are conducting a national campaign to tell women the truth about Heart Disease. At OneWorld we have culled much of the information for you in one convenient place.  Please give yourself the gift of time and good health.  Read! Get Informed!  Knowledge is truly POWER!  Also visit OneWorld’s Health Section; watch some of our video clips and browse our informative Women’s Resources Center at: http://www.oneworldpi.org/womens_resources/womens_resources.html  Also see videos at:

http://www.oneworldpi.org/health/health_videos.html 

During the month of May OneWorld  Progressive Institute– your community resource for health literacy, education and civic engagement– will be airing informative education programs focusing exclusively on women’s health and well-being.  Watch AT&T Uverse, Channel 99, statewide in CT, and your local PEG access channel in Southern Connecticut (Comcast Channels 10, 15, 18, 26 & 34; Cox 15, and Charter Communications Ch. 21)  for our outstanding education programs on women’s health: Maintaining Health & Well-Being As Women Age, Gynecologic Cancers, Cancer Genetic Screening, Counseling and Testing, and Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES).

The national education campaign’s goal is to give women a personal and urgent wakeup call about their risk of heart disease.

1.      Who Are We Trying to Reach? We are focusing on women between the ages of 40 – 60, the age when a woman’s risk of heart disease starts to rise. 

• Because heart disease develops gradually and can start at a young age-even in the teenage years, the message is also important for younger women.
• Older women have an interest too—because it’s never too late to take action to prevent and control the risk factors for heart disease. 
• Even those who have heart disease can improve their heart health and quality of life.
• Heart disease kills more women age 65 years and older than all cancers combined.
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women age 65 years and older
• It’s the third-leading cause of death for women age 25 to 44 years
• And the second-leading cause of death for women age 45 to 64 years.
• Women under the age of 65 years who have a family history of heart disease should pay particularly close attention to the heart disease risk factors.
• Still, all women, of all ages, should take heart disease seriously.

2.  Heart Disease Disproportionately Affects Women of Color. African American and Hispanic women in particular have high rates of the major risk factors for heart disease, including:

• Obesity- More than 80 percent of midlife African American women are overweight or obese
• Physical inactivity- Move. Take brisk walks regularly to lower blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, and blood glucose.
• High blood pressure – 52 percent of midlife African American women have high blood pressure
• Diabetes - 14 percent have been diagnosed with diabetes.
• Hispanic Women: About 83 percent of midlife Hispanic women are overweight or obese, and more than 10 percent have been diagnosed with diabetes.
•    Smoking and Heart Disease  www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/smoking-heart-disease

The campaign is especially aimed at women ages 40 to 60, the age when a woman’s risk of heart disease starts to rise. But its messages are also important for younger women. Heart disease disproportionately affects women of color. African American and Hispanic women in particular have high rates of the major risk factors for heart disease, including obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

The Heart Truth Women of Color initiative, with its partners, focuses on extending The Heart Truth messages, and engaging in national and local activities to help more women of color understand The Heart Truth-and inspire them to take action to reduce their risks for heart disease.

The campaign tells women that “The Heart Truth starts with you.    

•  Talk to your doctor, find out your risk, and take action today to lower it.”

•  Its messages are underscored by the moving stories of real women who are living with heart disease.

•  Sharon, Orlinda, Olga, and others have allowed the campaign to tell The Heart Truth using their faces, voices, and experiences in hopes that their Stories From The Heart will help other women take heart health seriously.     

• Additional Resources include: Online Toolkit will help you find and use other resources.
• This Faith-Based Activities Toolkit contains ideas and resources you can use to plan your own faith-based Heart Truth program.     

The Organizations Linked Below Provide Much Information for Hispanics & Faith-based Women Nationally and Internationally.  Explore all the links and learn more about Women of Color & Heart Disease.

 

National Latina Health Network (NLHN) launched www.nlhn.net/ Promoting health education for Latinas and families
Heart Healthy Day started in 2007 by conducting heart health screenings and education sessions in New York City, NY, Houston, TX, Chicago, IL, and Miami, FL, reaching more than 2,000 individuals with The Heart Truth messages. The NLHN’s Heart Healthy Day was covered by Telemundo, a media partner of the NLHN, and reached an estimated audience of 48,430,700. The NLHN also incorporated The Heart Truth into the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Su Corazon, Su Vida community education program to reach Latinas with low reading and health literacy levels.

The Heart TruthVideos – Want to know more about heart attack warning signs and risk factors like high blood pressure?

The Heart Truth Videos are short films that spotlight heart attack warning symptoms, heart attack risk factors, and the NHLBI’s The Heart Truth campaign.  See these videos and learn what to look for.   See these videos and learn what to watch for

• Heart Attack Warning Symptoms

• Heart Attack Warning Symptoms (Spanish)

• Heart Disease Risk Factors

• Heart Disease Risk Factors (Spanish)

• The Heart Truth Campaign

•  This Faith-Based Activities Toolkit contains ideas and resources you can use to plan your own faith-based Heart Truth program.

•   See also: National Institutes of Health

• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services  

•  womenshealth.gov – The Office on Women’s Health provides information, tools, calculators, and statistics on women’s health topics … Heart attack for women. … May 1, 2012

• Women’s Health Calendar - Empowering women to live healthier lives!

Below are additional National Links Specifically for Women of Color:

1.  AME Church Connectional Health Commission— www.amechealth.org

2.  Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc.— www.abcardio.org

3.  Black Women’s Health Imperative  www.blackwomenshealth.org

4.  Favaloro Foundation: www.fundacionfavaloro.org/welcome/welcome_index.htm

5.  The League of United Latin American Citizens, Women— www.lulac.org/women.html

6.   The Links, Inc.— www.linksinc.org

7.  MANA, A National Latina Organization— www.hermana.org

8. Miss Black USA— www.missblackusa.org

9. National Association of Latina Leaders http://www.latinaleaders.org

10. National Black Nurses Association—www.nbna.org/

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 2:06 am and is filed under Announcements, Civic Engagement, Community Education & Information, Education, Health, Multicultural Resources, Public Good, Uncategorized, Web Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.