INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE HEALTH PROPOSAL 2
Interventions to Improve Health Proposal
Chronic diseases and conditions have been a growing concern in health care since their care
needs are exerting considerable demand for the health system. World Health Organization stipulates
that the prevalence of chronic diseases will rise by the end of 2020 (Walters, 2020). Cardiovascular
disease is one of the chronic diseases that has played a key role in heightening this demand and
prevalence. In particular, in the United States, cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading
cause of morbidity and mortality rate. Despite the decline in the incidences and mortality rate over
the last two decades, there has been an increase in the prevalence of the cardiovascular disease. This
implies that an increase in financial burden associated with the disease is imminent and it raises a
likelihood that death rates from the disease may start to rise if adequate intervention measures are
not put into place. Thus, it is critical for key health care stakeholders to devise and establish a public
health action plan seeking to prevent cardiovascular disease. Armed with this understanding, the
paper seeks to create a proposal for an intervention to improve the health of individuals affected by
cardiovascular disease in the United States.
The Population Affected by Cardiovascular Disease and Statistics of the Disease
Cardiovascular disease affects all Americans in one way or another. In particular, one may
think he/she is not at risk for cardiovascular disease because he/she does not fit the stereotypical
description of an elderly experiencing a heart attack like it is portrayed in mass media, which is a
false sense of security. It is worth noting that regardless of gender, age, racial background, or
socioeconomic level, one can be affected by cardiovascular disease. However, it is crucial to
categorize how cardiovascular affects the various population, which in this case will be classified in
terms of age, gender, race as well as socioeconomic levels. In terms of gender, cardiovascular
disease is the highest cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Although there
is a stereotypical conclusion that cardiovascular disease is a man’s disease, statistics show that
around the same number of men and women die of cardiovascular disease each year. Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (2020) stipulate that cardiovascular disease led to the death of
INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE HEALTH PROPOSAL 3
299,578 women in 2017, which is 1 in every 5 female deaths in the United States. In the same year,
347,879 men died of cardiovascular disease (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).
This accounts for every 1 in every 4 male deaths in the United States. One type of cardiovascular
disease that affects both men and women is coronary artery disease. The disease affects arteries
building plaque and becomes narrow, which decreases the flow of blood to the heart.
In terms of age, both young and older people are affected by cardiovascular disease.
However, cardiovascular disease increases with age. For men above 45 years, 1 out of 100 men are
usually at risk of developing cardiovascular disease (Secondscount.org, 2018). By the age of 60
years, the risk is more by 1.5 times. The risk continues to increase and at the age of 85 years, 7 out
of 100 men develop cardiovascular disease. Secondscount.org (2018) establish that a similar case
applies to women as the risk of cardiovascular disease increases with age. However, the trend
highlighted begins 10 years later for women specifically with the onset of menopause. The number
of people with cardiovascular disease who are younger than 45 years continues to rise due to
increased cases of diabetes and childhood obesity, which are two risk factors of cardiovascular
disease. Ideally, obese youth have a high likelihood of cardiovascular risk factors such as high
blood pressure and high cholesterol. Secondscount.org (2018) highlights that in the population of 5
to 18 years old, over 60% of those who are obese have risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
In terms of race and ethnic background, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
pinpoint that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in every race in the United States.
Between 2013 and 2016, the American Heart Association (2020) highlight that 57% of non-
Hispanic black females and 60% of black males had a form of cardiovascular disease. The data
presented by the CDC highlight that about 1 in 13, which is 7.7% of white men, and 1 in 14, which
is 7.1% of black men have cardiovascular disease (Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
2020). The death rate associated with cardiovascular disease among African Americans is more
than 30% higher than the overall population of the United States. Regarding socioeconomic levels,
people with lower socioeconomic status have increased levels of chronic stress, which leads to a
INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE HEALTH PROPOSAL 4
heart problem (Secondscount.org, 2018). Individuals with lower socioeconomic status tend to have
a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Further, they have poor access to healthcare and health
insurance, which heightens the probability to develop the cardiovascular disease that can lead to
death if not managed and treated.
Intervention to improve Health of those affected by Cardiovascular Disease
Interventions to improve the health of individuals affected by the cardiovascular disease can
be implemented by establishing public health strategies. The public health strategies would play a
crucial role in detecting, preventing, and controlling cardiovascular disease and can be implemented
in various levels such as individual behavioral interventions as well as environmental strategies,
which affect entire communities in the United States. To ameliorate these interventions, key
domains, which encompasses epidemiology and surveillance, healthcare system interventions as
well as community programs should be adopted. Epidemiology and surveillance would involve the
use of systems for tracking and monitoring the current and emerging trends associated with
cardiovascular disease and their related risk factors (Labarthe et al., 2014). Epidemiology and
surveillance is the first and key intervention measure that should be implemented. Through
epidemiology and surveillance, key stakeholders in health care are able to acquire professional
knowledge that will help in meeting the goals of healthy people 2010. Roger (2014) indicates that
the degree to which health services for the entire population increases the probability of desired
health outcome and are consistent with current professional knowledge, which can be gained
through epidemiology and surveillance of cardiovascular disease.
Health care system interventions are strategies that can be used in improving the delivery
and quality of care to individuals with cardiovascular disease. Quality improvement changes in the
health system such as the use of electronic health records and reporting of blood pressure control
would be vital for health care providers. In particular, it will enable them to better monitor and
address key risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This is a key intervention that can help in early
detection, enhanced management, and prevention of the onset of cardiovascular disease. Examples
INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE HEALTH PROPOSAL 5
of this intervention encompass increased identification of undiagnosed high blood pressure,
adopting clinical high blood pressure protocols, and enhanced medication adherence. Community
program or community-based intervention is another key strategy that can help in ameliorating
health and achieving the objectives of healthy people 2010 regarding cardiovascular disease. The
strategy enables the community to connect with health care professionals to ameliorate
cardiovascular disease management as well as prevention. It is through community-based
interventions that health care professionals can educate the community on the importance of
implementing the ABCS (Wall et al., 2018). The ABSC stands for taking Aspirin when appropriate,
Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation.
The interventions highlighted have both short and long-term goals in improving health and
managing an individual with cardiovascular disease as well as those who are at risk. Regarding
community-based intervention, behavior change will result in short and long-term goals in
improving the health of individuals with cardiovascular disease. For instance, in short term,
smoking cessation specifically for heavy smokers can lessen the risk of cardiovascular disease by
around 40% within 5 years (Duncan et al., 2019). In long term, providing adequate information on
the negative impacts of smoking can change societal behavior, which can help future generations in
lessening the prevalence of the cardiovascular disease. Health care system intervention can help in
improving the monitoring and management of the cardiovascular disease. Improved monitoring and
management will lessen the mortality rate of the disease specifically for individuals with lower
socioeconomic status. Consistency in improved health care among people with lower
socioeconomic status will have both short and impacts in lessening mortality rate and the financial
burden of the disease.
INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE HEALTH PROPOSAL 6
References
American Heart Association. (2020). 2020 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update Fact Sheet.
Retrieved from Heart and Stroke Association Statistics : https://www.heart.org/en/about-
us/heart-and-stroke-association-statistics
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, January 31). Women and Heart Disease.
Retrieved from Heart Disease: https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/women.htm#:~:text=Learn
%20more%20facts%20about%20women,in%20every%205%20female
%20deaths.&text=Heart%20disease%20is%20the%20leading%20cause%20of%20death
%20for%20African,women%20in%20the%20United%20States.
Duncan, M. S., Freiberg, M. S., Greevy, R. A., Kundu, S., Vasan, R. S., & Tindle, H. A. (2019).
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Labarthe, D., Grover, B., Galloway, J., Gordon, L., Moffatt, S., Pearson, T., ... & Sidney, S. (2014).
The public health action plan to prevent heart disease and stroke: Ten-year update.
InKNational Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. http://nationalforum.
org/actionplan. Accessed DecemberK(Vol. 12).
Roger, V. L. (2014). Cardiovascular disease surveillance in the comparative effectiveness
landscape.
Secondscount.org. (2018, November 4). Who Is Affected by Cardiovascular Disease? Retrieved
from SCAI: http://www.secondscount.org/treatments/treatments-detail-2/who-is-affected-
by-cardiovascular-disease#.X5vjRogzbIV
Walters, C. (2020). Costly chronic care needs are growing and exerting considerable demand on
health systems. Retrieved from PwC: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/healthcare/emerging-
trends-pwc-healthcare/chronic-diseases.html
Wall, H. K., Ritchey, M. D., Gillespie, C., Omura, J. D., Jamal, A., & George, M. G. (2018). Vital
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INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE HEALTH PROPOSAL 7
Webb, S. (2019, February 19). AHA 2019 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics. Retrieved from
American College of Cardiology: https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/ten-points-to-
remember/2019/02/15/14/39/aha-2019-heart-disease-and-stroke-statistics
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