Resources for Health Care Professionals
American Heart Month 2022
As a health care professional or clinician, you are very aware of the dangers of hypertension. It can increase a person’s risk for heart disease and stroke and negatively affect other health outcomes.
Who Should Use This Toolkit?
This toolkit is designed for health care professionals and clinicians to help support their patients’ hypertension control.
These resources can help your clinical team implement protocols, use data to improve health outcomes, and be inspired by other practices’ success stories.
How Do I Use This Toolkit?
- Identify patients with hypertension.
- Incorporate lessons learned from success stories.
- Share messages and graphics with your care teams to help patients control their hypertension.
- Use these tools in tandem with the actions recommended in The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Control Hypertension.
Clinical Tools and Resources
Explore various types of tools, guides, and success stories that can help you support your health care team and patients in hypertension control.
- Alliance for the Million Hearts® Campaign Partner Toolkitexternal icon
Use these messages and tools to encourage adults ages 55 and over to practice heart-healthy habits that can help lower their risk for heart disease and stroke. - Eat Smart, Move More! pdf icon[PDF – 847 KB]
Use this fillable calendar to help your patients reach their healthy eating and physical activity goals one day at a time. - Recipes for a Heart-Healthy Lifestyleexternal icon
Share these affordable, nutritious recipes with your patients to encourage healthy eating.
- Reducing Out-of-Pocket Costs for Medications
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on reducing medication costs for patients with hypertension and hyperlipidemia. - Grady Implementation Guide
This implementation guide for public health practitioners and health care professionals is based on the Grady Heart Failure Program. The guide provides a detailed description of an effective intervention to address health disparities among heart failure patients.
- Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoringexternal icon
Explore tools and action guides on this webpage to help you implement SMBP monitoring in your clinic and engage patients in monitoring their own blood pressure. - Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring with Clinical Support
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on the importance of an individual’s role in managing chronic disease. - Self-Management Support and Education
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on the importance of patients using SMBP. - Success Story: Wisconsin Team Leverages SMBP Monitoring to Improve Outcomesexternal icon
Read this success story about how ThedaCare health care system became a Hypertension Control Champion. - Success Story: Using Home Blood Pressure Monitoring for Hypertension Control Successexternal icon
Read this success story about how Hunterdon Cardiovascular Associates became a Hypertension Control Champion.
- Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process Approach Guide
This implementation guide provides key examples for public health practitioners and health care professionals to help engage pharmacists in hypertension management through the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process. The guide shares lessons learned from the Michigan Medicine Hypertension Pharmacists’ Program. - Pharmacy: Collaborative Practice Agreements to Enable Collaborative Drug Therapy Management
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on helping health care professionals and pharmacists coordinate drug therapy management. - Improving Medication Adherence Among Patients with Hypertensionexternal icon
Use this web content to help you and your team learn about and overcome medication adherence barriers. - Community Pharmacists and Medication Therapy Management
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on how to implement medication therapy management, a group of services meant to ensure the best patient outcomes. - Success Story: Two Coordinated Health Care Teams Improve Medication Adherenceexternal icon
Read this success story about how health care systems in Orlando and San Diego became Hypertension Control Champions. - Success Story: Large Health System Implements Medication Adherence Practicesexternal icon
Watch a video about how Kaiser Permanente in Denver became a Hypertension Control Champion.
- Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Change Package, Second Editionexternal icon
Implement this list of process improvements as your team seeks optimal hypertension control among your patient population. - Integrating Community Health Workers on Clinical Care Teams and in the Community
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on how to incorporate the important work that community health workers do to improve community health. - Implementing Clinical Decision Support Systems
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on how to use clinical decision support systems in cardiovascular prevention. - Team-Based Care: Promoting Team-Based Care to Improve High Blood Pressure Control
Download and share the strategies presented in this Best Practices Guide that focus on how to involve a multidisciplinary team working in collaboration to improve patient outcomes. - Success Story: Using Practice Facilitation to Improve Care Deliveryexternal icon
Read this success story about how an initiative made the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene a Hypertension Control Champion. - Success Story: Leveraging Information Technology to Empower Patientsexternal icon
Read this success story about how Reliant Medical Group became a Hypertension Control Champion.
- Undiagnosed Hypertensionexternal icon
Learn how to find patients “hiding in plain sight” with undiagnosed hypertension with this video, tools, and communications kit.
Spread the Word
Share the following social media messages with your followers.
Cardiovascular disease (#CVD) isn’t exclusive to older adults. Data show that CVD and CVD mortality are increasing among younger populations. Explore change packages, best practice guides, and other tools from CDC to help your team support CVD patients of all ages this #HeartMonth. cdc.gov/heartmonth
No matter where you’re from or where you are, you can take steps toward heart health. Get shareable, evidence-based resources from CDC to help you manage cardiovascular disease (#CVD) in your practice. cdc.gov/heartmonth #HeartMonth
1 in every 3 deaths in the United States is related to cardiovascular disease. Explore CDC’s #HeartMonth toolkits for evidence-based resources to support heart health in your practice. cdc.gov/heartmonth
Only about 1 in 4 adults with #hypertension have their condition under control. The Million Hearts [tag] Hypertension Control Change Package can help improve patient #BloodPressure control with practice- and evidence-based resources. https://bit.ly/2Net7xYexternal icon #HeartMonth
When it comes to talking to your patients about their #HeartHealth, remember the ABCS: Aspirin, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, Smoking cessation. Start the conversation about lowering risk for #HeartDisease. https://bit.ly/37XbNJBexternal icon #HeartMonth
It’s a common misconception that cardiovascular disease (#CVD) occurs only in older adults—but data show that younger populations are increasingly affected by CVD. Help improve heart health in your patients w/ #HeartMonth resources from @CDCHeart_Stroke. www.cdc.gov/heartmonth
Disparities in cardiovascular disease (#CVD) prevention, detection, and control persist among non-Hispanic Blacks and other minority groups. Use hypertension toolkits from @CDCHeart_Stroke to help address #HealthEquity in your practice. www.cdc.gov/heartmonth #HeartMonth
#Hypertension control is within reach. With your support, self-measured #BloodPressure (SMBP) monitoring can help patients control hypertension. Use these evidence-based tools from @MillionHeartsUS to implement SMBP in your practice. https://bit.ly/34XsYclexternal icon #HeartMonth
Only about 1 in 4 adults with #hypertension have their condition under control. The @MillionHeartsUS Hypertension Control Change Package can help improve patient #BloodPressure control with practice- and evidence-based resources. https://bit.ly/2Net7xYexternal icon #HeartMonth
When it comes to talking to your patients about their #HeartHealth, remember the ABCS: Aspirin, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, Smoking cessation. Start the conversation about lowering risk for #HeartDisease. https://bit.ly/37XbNJBexternal icon #HeartMonth
Review and share our materials for public health professionals to help your communities control hypertension.
Download our hypertension control resources for you to share with individuals and patients in your practice.
