What is the Million Hearts Initiative and how do I conduct a Million Hearts Screening?

Background: Heart Disease is the number one killer in America in both men and women.  Million Hearts® is a national initiative launched by the Department of Health and Human Services in September 2011 to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Aims:The goals of the Million Hearts Initiative are: to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017, empower and educate Americans to make healthy choices, and to target care by focusing on the “ABCSs.” Appropriate aspirin therapy, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, smoking cessation, and stress management or the “ABCSs” are the foundation of the initiative.

Methods: This University's College of Nursing has founded the National Interprofessional Education and Practice Consortium to Advance Million Hearts® and is participating in this initiative by educating students, faculty and staff on cardiovascular disease prevention with the goal of them disseminating this information to the community.  College of Nursing and interprofessional students are being educated on how to complete evidence based, accurate and focused Million Hearts screenings. The assessments include biometrics (blood pressure, height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference), cholesterol, smoking, and stress screenings. Million Hearts screenings then include patient education on normal and abnormal values and counseling on individualized preventive lifestyle modifications. Findings: A step-by-step review of this process, including behavior lifestyle modifications and a simulated screening, will be completed during the symposium.  Implications: This Million Hearts screening model takes a proactive approach to preventing cardiovascular disease in the community and allows health professions’ students to have a hands-on learning experience in promoting population health.