Paper
Thursday, 20 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Health Promotion Strategies
Prevalence of CVD Risk Factors within the Milwaukee Police Department
Sandra L. Ramey, PhD, RN, Marquette College of Nursing, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Learning Objective #1: describe the application of the Precede-Proceed Health Promotion Planning Model.
Learning Objective #2: identify 3 strategic interventions directed toward risk reduction used with officers employed by the Milwaukee Police Department.
Purpose: Determine the prevalence of risk and CVD morbidity within a diverse major metropolitan police department and to explore unique aspects within the profession of law enforcement that may contribute to increased prevalence of risk and CVD development. Background: Law enforcement is among the occupations with the highest documented rate of CVD. The mechanisms underlying this risk remain uncertain, but clearly efforts are needed to develop strategies to reduce risks of CVD within this profession. Method: Using the Precede-Proceed Health Promotion Planning Model, specific aims of this study are to: 1) determine the prevalence of risk and CVD morbidity within a major metropolitan police department (n = 1,762); 2) identify contributive factors that are precursors of risk development and 3) explore possible relationships among lifestyle attributes, job stressors, length of time employed as a LEO, gender, and racial/ethnic characteristics with CVD risk. Using an exploratory design, a 50-question survey was used to query officers about risk factors including perception of stress. Thirty interviews were conducted to understand and explain the perceptions of health and lifestyle embraced by the officers. Confirmation of qualitative reports were triangulated with other findings in the literature to identify the predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors contributing to the increased prevalence of CVD risk. Results: The results of this study will further define the relationship between the risks for CVD and the profession of law enforcement. In addition, it will provide the basis for future health promotion initiatives and CV risk factor reduction strategies in this high-risk population. Implications: There are approximately 80,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States. Strategic interventions piloted and refined in this study may be generalized to other law enforcement agencies to reduce the prevalence of CVD risk. Other occupations experiencing high levels of stress may benefit from the interventions as well.

See more of Health Promotion Strategies
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)