Miami Valley Enhanced Dissemination and
Utilization Center
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| Richard
J. Schuster, M.D., M.M.M., Oscar Boonshoft Chair and Director,
Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy, Department of Community
Health, (left), accepting the EDUC award plaque from Gregory Morosco,
Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Director for Prevention, Education, and
Control, NHLBI. |
The Center for Global Health
Systems, Management, and Policy has taken the lead role in a
coalition of Dayton-area groups awarded a $500,000, three-year
contract from the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to become part of its network
for implementing targeted and culturally sensitive health education
strategies to address cardiovascular disease at the community level.
The Dayton coalition is one of a group of community-based organizations called Enhanced Dissemination and Utilization Centers (EDUC). The EDUC program, now totaling 12 communities, was launched in 2001 to implement focused heart-health education strategies in high-risk communities. The new projects target high-risk communities in urban and rural areas in Maryland, Nebraska, Colorado, Ohio, and North Carolina.
The project's goals center on identifying cardiovascular risk factors and preventing cardiovascular disease by implementing strategies to optimize both physician practices and patient behaviors. Strategies include increasing awareness of one's own health status, better monitoring of hypertension and cholesterol through physicians' offices, early detection of and intervention for cardiovascular risk factors, and patient education materials.
"The Miami Valley has a higher than national average incidence of cardiovascular disease, particularly for heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Richard Schuster, Boonshoft Chair of the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy and associate professor of community health and internal medicine. "This is a particularly urgent problem in the African-American community."
Dayton's project will build upon current efforts in the community, including the Premier LDL Reduction Project, Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control (COSEHC) Clinic-Based Hypertension Project, and Know Your Numbers Mass Media Campaign. Premier Health Partners will collaborate with the project through the primary care practices at Miami Valley Hospital and outpatient centers at Good Samaritan Hospital. Primary care physician residency programs at both hospitals will also be involved.
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