CDC National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program

New York
Basic Implementation

The New York State Department of Public Health began receiving funds from CDC in 1998 to support a state heart disease and stroke prevention program.

Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke

• More than 1 out of 4 deaths in New York are due to heart disease. (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)
• 50,470 New Yorkers died from heart disease in 2006 (33.9% of total deaths in New York). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)
• 6,398 New Yorkers died from stroke in 2006 (4.3% of total deaths in New York). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)

See the New York State Department of Health report, The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in New York, [PDF–3.35M] for more burden statistics.

• According to 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey results, adults in New York reported having the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke:
  
  • 27.2% had high blood pressure
  • 37.7% of those screened reported having high blood cholesterol
  • 8.2% had diabetes
  • 18.9% were current smokers
  • 61.9% were overweight or obese (Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 25.0)
  • 51.1% reported no exercise in the prior 30 days
  • 72.6% ate fruit and vegetables less than 5 times a day

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitate collaboration among public and private sector partners, such as managed care organizations, health insurers, federally funded health centers, businesses, 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, health care professionals, and partners to support primary and secondary prevention of heart disease and stroke.
• Monitor quality of care for primary and secondary prevention.

State Highlights

• In June 2010, the most recent cohort of three work site contractors completed their final year of a five year contract. During this time they worked with 344 work sites potentially affecting 108,384 employees. The types of policy and environmental changes implemented included: offering blood pressure screening and follow up (140 work sites); having blood pressure monitoring devices available (138 work site), offering cholesterol screening and follow up (106 work sites); providing information on signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke (125 work sites); having a work site wellness committee (205 work sites) and a coordinator (217 work sites); offering financial incentives for lifestyle changes (38 work sites). Five new work site contractors will begin work in 2011, with funding and technical support from several chronic disease programs (Healthy Heart Program (HHP), Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, the Obesity Prevention Program and the Division of Nutrition. A greater emphasis will be directed towards small and medium work sites in the future. Plans to utilize other resources to establish a Statewide Center for Work Site Wellness are underway. Establishing a pilot project to provide start-up support to one rural health network to develop their capacity to provide fee-for-service work site wellness programming to small and medium work sites is in process.
• Funding for implementing the Stanford Chronic Disease Self Management Project (CDSMP) was received under the Arthritis Integration Demonstration Project. The program is also working closely with the New York State Office for the Aging to expand the CDSMP with ARRA funding from the Adminstration on Aging. Both projects will connect with the health care system.
• Quality improvement in community health centers is being done through a contract with the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS). Implementation of the IHI Breakthrough Series Model for Improvement is being used to address blood pressure and cholesterol control. HHP and CHCANYS staff have been trained in the IHI model by the Asthma program.  A manual “Heart Health: Cardiovascular Guidelines for Community Health Centers Training Reference Manual” has been published and is also on-line. A survey was conducted that confirmed great diversity in the practices and equipment/materials used in different health centers pointing to a need for standardization of practices in monitoring cardiovascular diseases. One health center is designated as the “mentor site” and staff will work with other centers to improve blood pressure control, using the Chronic Care Model, and promoting “peer-based learning”. Webinars will also be held.
• A Public Health Detailing Campaign, developed by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, to train providers in high risk neighborhoods on how to assist patients adhere to medication regimens included medications for hypertension and dyslipidemia, and was conducted by six field staff in South Bronx, Harlem, and Brooklyn.
• The expansion of the Stroke Awareness Media Campaign in other media markets is being done with matching funds from hospitals in the designed regions. New York’s 115 Designated Stroke Centers (DSCs) are required to conduct public education on the signs and symptoms of stroke and the need for urgent action. To assist the DSCs in these efforts, the Heart Healthy Program (HHP) developed, implemented, and evaluated a pilot stroke awareness campaign in the Capital Region (Albany area). The multi-pronged campaign was designed to increase the recognition that the signs and symptoms of stroke are serious and there is a need to reduce the delay between symptom onset and arrival at an emergency department. Evaluation of the campaign in this area demonstrated its effective impact in reducing delay in time to treatment.

For more information on heart disease and stroke prevention in the state, visit the New York State Department of Health Heart Disease Web site

To view county-by-county data, visit our interactive map site.