|
|
|
|
|
A
Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke
Return to Table of Contents
The Action Plan
"We
have the scientific knowledge to create a world in which most
cardiovascular disease could be eliminated."
From The 2000 Victoria Declaration on Women,
Heart Diseases and Stroke |
The Action Plan embraces the two
overarching goals of Healthy People 2010, which are to increase
quality and years of healthy life and to eliminate health disparities.5
It also addresses four goals specific to heart disease and stroke, as
distinguished by the Healthy People 2010 Heart and Stroke Partnership
according to the different intervention approaches that apply. These goals
(which are based on the one Healthy People 2010 goal) are prevention
of risk factors, detection and treatment of risk factors, early
identification and treatment of heart attacks and strokes, and prevention of
recurrent cardiovascular events. An action framework that outlines the
comprehensive public health strategy of the Action Plan (see Figure
1) highlights these goals. The main features of the action framework can be
described briefly as follows (see full report for further discussion):
- The Present Reality, which
summarizes current knowledge of the progressive development of heart
disease and stroke.
- A Vision of the Future, which
summarizes the favorable circumstances that must be achieved if the
epidemic of heart disease and stroke is to be arrested and reversed.
- Intervention Approaches, which
include the six broad approaches that, when fully and effectively
implemented, can help bring about the transition to the vision of the
future.
- Healthy People 2010 Partnership Goals
for reducing heart disease and stroke and how the six intervention
approaches can address successive stages of disease and help attain these
goals.
- Target Population, which
indicates how many people could be reached by each successive intervention
approach.
The
Utah Cardiovascular Health Program partnered with 140 organizations
representing government, private businesses, health care
organizations, and nonprofit agencies to form the Alliance for
Cardiovascular Health. This group has developed a 3–year plan to
identify key strategies for improving cardiovascular health,
including policy and environmental change. |
This public health strategy is based on the
concept of pursuing the Healthy People 2010 goal for preventing heart
disease and stroke by applying the full array of intervention approaches.
For this Action Plan, participants proposed specific recommendations
after identifying public health areas critical to preventing heart disease
and stroke. Five such areas were established as essential components of the
plan (see Figure 2, next page). For each component, CDC convened an Expert
Panel to consider the relevant issues and recommend action steps through
which to address them. Detailed implementation plans will be developed in
each area subsequently, guided by the overall plan.
The five components and their respective
panels are summarized as follows:
- Taking action. Translating
current knowledge into effective public health action (Expert Panel A).
- Strengthening capacity.
Transforming public health agencies with new competencies and resources
and expanding partnerships to mount and sustain such action (Expert Panel
B).
- Evaluating impact. Systematically
monitoring and evaluating the health impact of interventions to identify
and rapidly disseminate those most effective (Expert Panel C).
Figure 2. An Integrated Action Plan to
Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke
- Advancing policy. Defining the
most critical policy issues and pursuing the needed prevention research to
resolve them and expedite policy development (Expert Panel D).
- Engaging in regional and global
partnerships. Multiplying resources and capitalizing on shared
experience with others throughout the global community who are addressing
similar challenges (Expert Panel E).
The Expert Panels proposed specific
recommendations and action steps for implementing the plan over the next two
decades and beyond. For this Overview, the full list of recommendations was
synthesized into two fundamental requirements and 10 summary
recommendations.
Next Section: Fundamental
Requirements
Return to
Table of Contents
Date last reviewed:
05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke
Prevention,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
|