Heart to Heart

Heart to Heart was a 5-year, community-based, chronic disease prevention project to improve cardiovascular health. The project worked with community groups to develop worksite wellness programs, implement grocery store point of purchase programs, and publish health promotion messages in local newspapers, community bulletins, and on local radio programming. The project also included community campaigns to encourage physical fitness, walking, smoking cessation, and shopping for nutritional foods. Heart to Heart created walking groups to provide supportive relationships and encourage group exercise among sedentary adults. Community education with blood cholesterol screening was available at worksites, public areas, and special events. Nutrition and cooking demonstrations were held at worksites, churches, and on televised broadcasts. The project also educated health care providers on the strategies and activities of the program.

The goal of the Heart to Heart program is to reduce risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

More than 31,000 participants were involved in 585 activities through the Heart to Heart project. In a pre- and post-intervention comparison, there was an increase in community awareness of risk factors. Participants in the intervention group had lower cholesterol levels and smoking rates following the intervention. The prevalence of current smoking declined significantly among men in the intervention group.