CoE and CCOE Activities
Heart Health & Stroke Home > Programs > CoE and CCOE Activities
As part of NHLBI's Heart Truth Campaign, OWH's National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health (CoEs) and National Community Centers of Excellence in Women's Health (CCOEs) are working together on a joint project with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. OWH has awarded contracts to several CoEs and CCOEs to develop professional education materials for NHLBI's The Heart Truth/Red Dress Project Campaign. These materials will educate health professionals on the proper diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in women.
Three groups of CoEs and CCOEs are organized to develop:
- Training/curriculum materials for medical students and allied health professional students,
- Grand round presentations (traditional slides and a web-based interactive version) for cardiologists, primary care physicians, and allied health professionals, and
- Web-based interactive multiple unit learning modules for training and self study.
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) CoE is the Project Coordinating Center, providing technical consistency amongst all groups, holding monthly conference calls, chairing Advisory Board Meetings consisting of members of professional and non-profit organizations who represent the target audience and have experience in materials development and partnering groups.
The materials development phase will be completed by March 2005 (through 18-month contracts). All materials will be posted on the web site of the National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC) for dissemination by others. An outcomes evaluation of the project is planned to take place with FY2004 funding.
Top
OWH has provided training funds for staff members at several National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health (CoEs) and National Community Centers of Excellence in Women's Health (CCOEs). These CoEs and CCOEs will receive training that will enable them to develop, implement, and manage a Women's Cardiovascular Health Program at their respective centers.
Top
Two contract awards were made to the Northeast Missouri Health Council CCOE and the Boston University CoE to develop and evaluate an evidence-based exercise program applicable to low income women with limited formal exercise opportunities, as part of efforts to reduce cardiovascular risk, and assess whether a program can be developed which is applicable to both urban (Boston catchment area) and rural (Missouri catchment area) women.
Four contract awards were made to the St. Barnabas Hospital and Healthcare System CCOE; the Harvard University CoE; the University of Puerto Rico CoE; and the Tulane and Xavier Universities of Louisiana CoE to develop a training curriculum geared towards the training of community women in the area of cardiovascular disease, risk factors, prevention, intervention and early detection. The developed educational efforts were targeted to African American, Latina and Hispanic women in the Bronx, NY; Boston, MA; New Orleans, LA; and Puerto Rico.
Top
Boston University CoE
- Research on the study of sex and racial disparities in post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) mortality and procedure rates.
- Research on whether sex and race disparities on pre-AMI diagnosis could lead to earlier recognition and treatment and improved outcomes for all.
- An exercise intervention to evaluate its effects on psychological distress, fitness, body composition, and quality of life (QOL) among stage I and II breast cancer patients. It will also evaluate the pathways that may mediate exercise effects on QOL and assess exercise adherence factors randomly assigned to exercise intervention or a control.
- Collaboration on a study entitled "Sexual Assault While in the Military: Violence as a Predictor of Cardiac Risk?" Obesity, smoking, problem alcohol use, sedentary lifestyle, and hysterectomy before age 40 were more common in women reporting a history of sexual assault while in the military than in women without such a history. An association between myocardial infarction and prior sexual assault history may be mediated in part by known cardiac risk factors.
Harvard University CoE and the Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Women (CCDW) at Brigham Women's Hospital conducted focus groups among diverse women with CHD and women with known risk for developing CHD to determine the needs and preferences for cardiology care in women. Focus group participants had acute knowledge of CHD and understood how to manage associated risk factors. However, behavior modification, including consumption of a diet low in saturated fat and high in fruits and vegetables and incorporating exercise into daily activities, was cited as the greatest barrier in altering risk for CHD. As a direct outcome of these focus groups, the CCDW staff developed educational materials for women with, and at risk for CHD, including an educational prescription pad for patients that outlines risk reduction strategies and a medication document that outlines purpose and use of CHD medications.
The CCDW staff worked collaboratively with the Boston Heart Party to develop a computerized risk assessment for CHD in women. The telemedicine intervention for women with CHD is designed to remotely connect health care providers with women who have experienced myocardial infarction in a simulated cardiac rehabilitation program.
The HMS Center of Excellence in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission and Boston Neighborhood Network is developing a serial, interactive cable television show and community discussion groups focused on reducing risks for cardiovascular disease in women of color. The show includes risk reduction strategies related to hypertension, diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and stress.
The Healthy Heart Initiative is a CVD initiative designed to develop and evaluate strategies for nutrition and physical activity education with the goal of increasing heart-healthy behaviors. The target populations for this initiative are African American women living in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury and Latina women living in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain.
The program objectives include
- Assessing the feasibility of purchasing food for a high-quality, heart-healthy diet in the target communities;
- Engaging target populations in developing culturally appropriate, low-cost, heart-healthy menus and strategies to increase physical activity; and
- Working partnership with the target communities to engage neighborhood residents and businesses and disseminate information about heart-healthy lifestyles.
Magee Women's Hospital CoE's Heart Check Program started on site, then expanded to Magee Womancare Centers, then to neighborhood clinics. The program will be used in additional University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health System (UPMCHS) sites in 2003. The CoE's minority health team member conducts the neighborhood clinics.
The University of Michigan CoE has assisted with promoting the newly organized UM Women's Cardiovascular Health Program. The program focuses on preventing cardiovascular disease in women with known risk factors or who are otherwise concerned with their cardiovascular health. The CoE assists with health education, outreach events, and clinic and research collaboration.
The University of Wisconsin CoE Research Director was awarded NIH funding to investigate early determinants of atherosclerotic disease in men and women with type 1 diabetes. This study is important because diabetes erases the gender-benefit in heart disease (i.e., women get coronary heart disease a decade later than men do unless they have diabetes).
Content last updated February 1, 2004.
|
You may need to download a free PDF reader to view files marked with this icon.
