Role of community programs in controlling blood pressure.
Despite more than 30 years of intense activity to improve control--and more recently prevention--high blood pressure continues to be a major public health problem. Evidence-based reviews have identified best practices and quality improvement strategies to address prevention and control. Since the 1970s, community-based programs have been instrumental in raising awareness, increasing knowledge, and promoting changes in health behavior to improve blood pressure control. Most of these programs have emphasized the use of partnerships and involvement of community residents in conducting screening and referral activities, implementing clinical practice guidelines, and increasing healthy eating and physical activity. Many also have used health care team approaches, including the use of trained community health workers to deliver targeted, culturally sensitive heart health education, particularly related to the prevention of cardiovascular disease risk factors in general and high blood pressure in particular. Increased focus on implementation of evidence-based lifestyle and clinical management strategies coupled with community-based approaches may help increase blood pressure control rates within communities.
Fulwood
Robinson
R
Office of Prevention, Education, and Control, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 31, Room 4A10, 31 Center Drive, MSC 2480, Bethesda, MD 20892-2480, USA. fulwoodr@nhlbi.nih.gov
Guyton-Krishnan
Jeanette
J
Wallace
Madeleine
M
Sommer
Ellen
E
D001794:Blood Pressure; D003153:Community Health Services; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008019:Life Style; D014481:United States