Tuesday, September 17, 2024
9/17/2024
In 2021 Kentucky ranked 48th in life expectancy and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Kentucky. Adult Kentuckians have a high blood pressure crude prevalence of 39.9%, compared with the national rate of 32.4% and a high cholesterol crude prevalence of 37.5 % compared with the US rate of 35.7%. In Kentucky these risk factors for CVD can increase dramatically depending on race, ethnicity, income and geography. To address these risk factors, the Kentucky Department for Public Health’s (KDPH), Kentucky Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (KHDSP) Program and their partners aim to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease (CVD) by implementing and evaluating evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies. The intended outcomes of these strategies are to improve hypertension control, reduce disparities in blood pressure control and reduce the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) through community-clinical linkages that address social service and support needs of patients with the highest prevalence or risk for CVD. Even though KHDSP’s activities have statewide capacity, the KHDSP has prioritized partnerships that serve Black persons, Hispanic persons, people who live at or below the federal poverty level, live in rural or Appalachian counties and people who are 65 and older. With existing and new partners KHDSP will create a multidisciplinary cross functional learning collaborative (LC) to advance community-clinical linkages that improve health equity and reduce disparities in health outcomes for populations with the highest prevalence or risk for CVD. Anticipated LC members include other CDC-funded state programs, public health entities, health systems and community-based organizations that address social service and support needs and social injustices. Through leadership, dedicated staff and financial and technical resources, KHDSP will coordinate cross sector communication and activities to address SDOH in priority populations and reduce health inequity. As a key strategy to improve hypertension control overall and to reduce disparities in hypertension control, KHDSP will promote the use of electronic health records (EHR) or health information technology (HIT) in health systems to monitor, track and report quality measures for clinical and social services and support needs. As part of this effort KHDSP will coordinate a Hypertension Quality Improvement Institute and assist partners to develop EHR/HIT workflows that allow for the disaggregation of clinical and social services and support needs data to improve health equity within their settings. In addition, KHDSP will continue to promote the adoption of evidence-based quality measurement at the provider level through the consistent implementation of the Cardiovascular Assessment, Risk Reduction and Education, Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring Program (CARE SMBP) using an implementation science framework. CARE SMBP is a state approved bi-directional provider referral program that focuses on lifestyle change education with clinical SMBP support through team-based care. KHDSP will also work with CARE SMBP partners to integrate CARE SMBP as a vehicle to use or develop standardized processes and tools to identify, track and monitor referrals for social services and support needs resulting from CARE SMBP encounters whether in a community or clinical setting. At multiple systems levels, KHDSP will support the identification and deployment of Community Health Workers as critical community-clinical connections to address social service and support needs of populations with the highest prevalence or risk for CVD.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
