There is a high prevalence of heart disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and stroke in West Alabama. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, and stroke is the 5th-leading cause, making it critical that we develop new and innovative approaches of decreasing risk factors.
Populations of focus are adults aged 18 and older with a hypertension crude prevalence of 53% or higher, as shown by data specifically at the census tract level.
Primary Goals
The primary goals of the West Alabama Cardiovascular Health (WACH) program are as follows:
- Build and manage a coordinated network of partnerships that address identified barriers and needs within approved populations of focus, related to their social services and support needs (e.g., childcare, transportation, language translation, food assistance, and housing).
- Deploy dedicated CHWs (or their equivalents) to provide a continuum of care and services which extend the benefits of clinical interventions and address social services and support needs leading to optimal health outcomes within approved populations of focus.
- Increase the use of Alabama One Health Record, Alabama’s health information exchange by clinics and patients to better manage patient heart health.
WACH will help approach these goals by working with communities developing an understanding of individual and community factors that influence
- Healthy diet
- Stress reduction
- Losing weight
- Being physically active
- Medication adherence
- Pregnant mothers
Counties
| County |
|---|
| Bibb County |
| Fayette County |
| Green County |
| Hale County |
| Lamar County |
| Perry County |
| Pickens County |
| Sumter County |
| Tuscaloosa County |
Contact
- Facilitator Directory: View a list of WACH program facilitators by area.
- Social Media: Follow the West Alabama Community Hearts Facebook page.
- Questions and more information: Email the WACH program at communityhearts@ua.edu.