Million Hearts: Incorporating into Curricula and Community Outreach

Purpose: The Million Hearts initiative aims to increase awareness about heart disease prevention and empower patients to take control of their heart health. The goals of this session are to provide examples of how nursing faculty can incorporate Million Hearts® into curricula and community engagement. Methods: Nursing community, leadership, clinical, and advanced practice nursing courses provide an excellent opportunity to incorporate the Million Hearts® educational program, teach students about population health and interprofessional teamwork, prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and contribute to national initiatives such as Health People 2020. Diverse outreach opportunities exist in which to infiltrate the community setting with Million Hearts® screenings and patient education. Community health fairs, free clinics, influenza clinics, student organizations’ events, and on-campus health and wellness events are all excellent venues for providing screening opportunities. An excellent exemplar of community engagement is the Wellness On Wheels tour. Forty-three faculty and students from the Colleges of Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, Exercise science, Nutrition and Public Health at The Ohio State University participated in a three city bus tour to conduct Million Hearts screenings and education. Prior to the tour, students watched the online lectures and utilized the website to print off appropriate materials. With faculty oversight, students completed Million Hearts® screenings and health counseling for community members. Results: There are endless possibilties to advancing Million Hearts^® in the academic and community settings. Conclusions: With a coordinated effort, nursing faculty and students can demonstrate to the nation the power of a unified approach, improve cardiovascular health, and ultimately, prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017 through the Million Hearts® initiative.