Educational Plan: Heart Disease Awareness Among African-american (Coursework Sample)

Educational plan: Heart disease awareness among African-American
Educational plan: Heart disease awareness among African-American
According to the information provided by Boston Scientific (2016), more African-Americans are prone to cardiovascular complications as compared to the whites. The information on the website indicates that the prevalence of cardiovascular infection is 49 percent and 44 percent for women and men respectively. African Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 have had a prevalence rate of 70 percent and 50 percent heart failure for men and women respectively. Hospitalization rates of heart failure cases are dependent on the onset of the heart diseases. African Americans have higher chances of acquiring the cardiovascular infection at a tender age and this increases the rates of hospitalization. There is a need to come up with an option to reduce the prevalence of heart diseases among the African Americans since the disease is a non-communicable disease. The cause of the heart diseases has been linked to lifestyle, which can be improved through education and sensitization.
Target population
The target population for this program includes the African-American communities who have been identified as to have higher prevalence as compared to the Whites. However, it does imply that the rest of the population is safe fro the risk factors. The lessons from this program can be used in both cases but the recommendation for this case in point focuses on the African American communities around the United states of America.
Important considerations
This plan is in line with the articulation in the health care act (2010) of the United States which recommended increased involved of the community in prevention practices. The act of parliament aimed to ensure that people have access to quality, safety, and continuous care. Since the African-American population has been identified as at risk population, the care act will be used to establish strategies for educating the community on methods of preventing the heart-related diseases. In addition, three important factors have to be considered which include the community understanding the risk factors, consultation with doctors and establishment of a personal initiative to take charge of their health.
Risk factors
Several factors can be singled out as risk factors that lead to heart-related diseases for the case of the African Americans. Risk factors that have been identified as to be beyond control include the aspect of advancement in age and the aspect of family history. The risk factors that individuals from the African American communities can control include diabetes, cholesterol levels, physical activities, high blood pressure, overweight, and stress, smoking and drug abuse CITATION Bos161 \l 1033 (Boston Scientific, 2016). The main approach of controlling the controllable risk factors is through lifestyle management.
Age
One can have control over lifestyle but cannot have control over the advancement of age and this makes the aspect of age advancement uncontrollable. As age advances, the chances of acquiring heart-related diseases increase. Advanced age is often characterized by reduced physical activities, poor appetite and generally reduced body functioning. Individuals in these situations must seek a prescription from dieticians and clinical expert on how to live a healthy life.
Family history
Family history is another aspect that can never be changed when dealing with heart-related diseases. However, it is important to have historical facts on individuals from one's family who have had heart-related diseases in the past. Statistics have established that over 15 percent of the African-American population is likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes management practices can be used to reduce the risks of acquiring the infection. It should also be recognized that most individuals lack the awareness of diabetes. As far as high blood pressure among the African-American population is concerned, more women than men are acquiring hypertension.
Blood cholesterol
People from the community have to understand that the body requires a certain level of cholesterol. However, a lot of cholesterol has been identified as a risk factor for heart-related diseases since they lead to coronary heart diseases. It has been established that 28 percent of women and the 34 percent of men from the African-American community have high blood cholesterol. High blood cholesterol is directly related to the intake of too much bad cholesterol.
Physical inactivity
The body requires regular physical activities to maintain health and fitness thus reduce the risks of acquiring heart-related infections CITATION Wis09 \l 1033 (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2009). Regular body exercise is needed to reduce the likelihood of high blood pressure, increased body weight, and diabetes. It has been established that over 40 percent of the African-American population is inactive, which increases the chances of heart-related diseases. Taking time to engage the body in exercise enhances physical fitness, enhances brain functioning, reduces anxiety, reduces tension and depression.
Overweight and obesity
When women acquire a waist measurement of more than 40 inches or men acquiring a waist measurement of more than 35 inches, it can be considered as overweight. It is important for all African-Americans to ensure that they have a recommended body mass index. The main risk factors for overweight and obesi...