CDC National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program

Florida
Basic Implementation

The Florida Department of Health began receiving funds from CDC in 2002 to support a state heart disease and stroke prevention program.

Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke

• More than 1 out of 4 deaths in Florida are due to heart disease. (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)
• 44,305 Floridians died from heart disease in 2006 (26.1% of total deaths in Florida). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)
• 8,925 Floridians died from stroke in 2006 (5.2% of total deaths in Florida). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)

See the Florida Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion report, Cardiovascular Surveillance Summary 2007, [PDF–581K] for more burden statistics.

• According to 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey results, adults in Florida reported the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke:
  
  • 28.2% had high blood pressure
  • 37.1% of those screened reported having high blood cholesterol
  • 8.7% had diabetes
  • 19.3% were current smokers
  • 62.1% were overweight or obese (Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 25.0)
  • 52.7% reported no exercise in the prior 30 days
  • 73.8% ate fruit and vegetables less than 5 times a day

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitate collaboration among public and private sector partners, such as peer review organizations, interagency councils, school organizations (i.e., districts, health advisory councils, superintendents, health alliances), federally funded health centers, priority population organizations, and emergency response agencies.
• Define the burden of heart disease and stroke and assess existing population-based strategies for primary and secondary prevention of heart disease and stroke within the state.
• Develop and update a comprehensive state plan for heart disease and stroke prevention with emphasis on heart-healthy policies development, physical and social environments change, and disparities elimination (e.g., based on geography, gender, race or ethnicity, or socioeconomic status).
• Identify culturally appropriate approaches to promote heart disease and stroke prevention among racial, ethnic, and other priority populations.
• Use population-based public health strategies to increase public awareness of the heart disease and stroke urgency, the signs and symptoms of heart disease and stroke, and the need to call 9-1-1.
• Support health care organizations system changes to assure quality of care and implementation of primary and secondary prevention for heart disease and stroke.
• Monitor, implement, and evaluate prevention strategies and programs in health care sites, work sites, and communities.
• Provide training and technical assistance to public health and health care professionals and partners to support primary and secondary prevention of heart disease and stroke.

State Highlights

• Funding from the Florida Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (HDSP) program assisted in establishing employee wellness programs in four school districts for all staff. Polk County School District staff are self-insured and data from the past 10 years indicates a positive return on the investment of the employee wellness program on health care costs. This intervention will continue to be evaluated over the next 3 years.
• The HDSP program partners, in partnership with the Florida Association of Community Health Centers, works to increase community health centers’ adoption of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Health Disparities Collaborative (HDC) initiative for cardiovascular disease (CVD).  The initiative is designed to enhance efforts to prevent heart disease and stroke by reducing health disparities among priority populations with higher rates of disease and increasing access to quality care through community health centers.
  
  

  The initiative employs a recognized chronic care model to redesign approaches to patient care. By identifying high-risk patients, proactively managing their care, and promoting lifestyle changes and preventive services, the HDC CVD model of care seeks to

  • Generate and document improved CVD health outcomes, such as control of high blood pressure and cholesterol, for underserved populations.
  • Transform clinical practice through use of electronic medical records and data reporting.
  • Develop infrastructure, expertise, and multidisciplinary leadership to improve cardiovascular health status.
  • Build strategic partnerships.
• The HDSP program provides training to first responders on using the Emergency Medical Services Tracking and Reporting System. This system allows emergency medical services (EMS) to collect and analyze data to improve emergency response as well as upload information to the National EMS Information System.
• The HDSP program partners with the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and the Florida Association of Rural Emergency Medical Services Providers to train rural EMS providers in the advanced stroke life support curriculum.
• The HDSP program, in partnership with Florida’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Program and the Medical Quality Assurance Program, develops online continuing education programs for health professionals. Offered through St. Petersburg College, past programs include prehypertension diagnosis and recommendations, hypertension, and cholesterol management guidelines. Upcoming trainings will address evidence-based practices at the bedside, which include core measures, women and heart attacks, and heart disease across the lifespan.
• The HDSP program established the State Employee Wellness Interagency Council to investigate current practices and make recommendations to improve work site policies for employee wellness.

For more information, visit Florida's heart disease and stroke prevention program..

To view county–level data, visit our interactive map site.