Saturday, September 14, 2024
9/14/2024
Heart disease and stroke are the 1st and 5th leading causes of death in the District of Columbia (District) (Vital Records Division, 2021). Combined, they accounted for almost 1,400 deaths in 2021. The two main reasons individuals develop heart disease and stroke are hypertension and high cholesterol, which are common and preventable. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) data show that the burden of hypertension and high cholesterol is high among District residents 40 years and older, with 119,744 (43%) of the age group reporting hypertension, and 104,614 (40.1%) reporting high cholesterol (DC Health, 2021). Disparities in these prevalence rates persist by race, place of residence, and socioeconomic factors. Hypertension rates among Non-Hispanic Black/African American residents 40 years and older is significantly higher compared to Non-Hispanic White residents in this age group (56.5% vs. 30.3%) (DC Health, 2021). DC Health’s Chronic Disease Division (CDD) implements evidence-based, data-informed promising practice strategies to address the most common chronic conditions and risk factors to advance health, wellness and equity across the District. Our team of chronic disease experts work closely with health systems, community-based organizations, government agencies and other key partners to use data-driven, evidence-based and sustainable approaches to improving heart disease, stroke, and other chronic disease outcomes in the District. Over the past five years, DC Health’s Million Hearts Program has successfully increased the capacity of eight (8) federally qualified health systems (FQHCs) and hospitals and the District Primary Care Association to monitor key clinical indicators for hypertension and blood cholesterol control, formed and leveraged community, clinical and public health relationships to expand and sustain the Million Hearts Learning Collaborative, connected residents to community-based resources and lifestyle change programs, and increased the implementation of clinical quality improvement interventions to improve the prevention and management of hypertension and high cholesterol in clinical settings. Between 2019-2021, data shows that the program reached an average of 15,135 hypertension patients per year. The program focused efforts on improving data quality of larger health systems in 2022, which accounted for an overall 61,483 hypertension patients reached in 2022, 52,886 of whom were over 40 (86%) DC Health intends to leverage these successes and lessons learned to further the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease by preventing and controlling high cholesterol and hypertension by addressing social barriers that disproportionately impact District residents at highest risk or burden for cardiovascular disease. To improve outcomes in target populations and geographic locations, the District aims to enhance current efforts by implementing innovative evidence-based and evidence-informed risk reduction strategies, including; enhancing the use of electronic health records, strengthening the clinical team-based care workforce, involving multidisciplinary care teams and partnerships, expanding the use of clinical and social needs referral technology, enhancing clinical and social needs data surveillance and facilitating the Million Hearts Learning Collaborative reducing programmatic, provider and individual barriers. Key to these activities is the expansion of the primary care team, integrating Community Health Workers (CHW) as members of the clinical care team to improve hypertension control and reduce hypertension-related hospitalizations using an innovative home-visiting approach. Strategies within this proposal prioritize high burden populations including residents that are 40 years and over, Black/African American, and living in Wards 4, 5, 7, and 8.
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).
