State Program: Louisiana
Capacity Building

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals began receiving funds from CDC in 1999 to support a state heart disease and stroke prevention program.

Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Louisiana, accounting for 11,185 deaths or approximately 27% of the state's deaths in 2002. (National Vital Statistics Report 2004;53(5)).

• Stroke is the third leading cause of death, accounting for 2,595 deaths or approximately 6% of the state's deaths in 2002. (National Vital Statistics Report 2004;53(5)).

• According to Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey results, adults in Louisiana reported having the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke:
  
  In 2005,
   
  • 29.4% had high blood pressure
  • 30.3% of those screened reported having high blood cholesterol

  In 2006,
   

  • 9.2% had diabetes
  • 23.4% were current smokers
  • 63.0% were overweight or obese (Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 25.0)
  • 31.0% reported no exercise in the prior 30 days

State Highlights

• The Louisiana Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (LAHDSP) has implemented:
   
• Search Your Heart: A faith-based initiative that addresses the disparity of heart disease and stroke in African-Americans and Hispanics/Latinos.
   
• Sisters Together: a joint project with Southern University which provided African American women with education and training to address the risk factors related to heart disease and stroke.
   
• An initiative with the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, to train members of healthcare teams to educate patients immediately following a cardiac event.
   
• The LAHDSP program will implement Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure: Mission Possible, an initiative developed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. This initiative includes a package of educational materials aimed at assisting the LAHDSP program attract new partners and regenerate relationships with existing partners to fight high blood pressure.
   
• The LAHDSP Program, in partnership with the Bureau of Emergency Medical Systems, trained 353 emergency medical personnel on evaluating and treating stroke victims in route to the hospital.
   
• Louisiana is part of the Delta States Stroke Consortium. The Consortium is led by the Arkansas Department of Public Health and includes Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
   
• The LAHDSP program partners with the Black Women’s Health Imperative project, or REACH 2010, to implement At the Heart of New Orleans Coalition, an initiative designed to eliminate disparities in cardiovascular disease in African-American women and communities. Recently the LAHDSP program provided technical assistance to implement and evaluate a faith-based community program to reduce heart disease risk factors among 40 African American congregations.
   
• The LAHDSP program, in collaboration with the Diabetes Control program and the Rural Health Association, trained federally qualified health centers on strategies to prevent heart disease and stroke and improve quality of care. Strategies include using electronic patient management systems with prevention guidelines integrated in the systems.For more information on heart disease and stroke prevention in the state, visit Louisiana's Cardiovascular Health Program website at http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/.

To view parish–level data, visit our interactive map site at http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/library/maps/statemaps.htm.

 
*Links to non–Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.
 

Page last reviewed: December 5, 2007
Page last modified: December 5, 2007
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion