February is American Heart Month

Did you know about 2,200 Americans die each day from heart conditions and cardiovascular diseases? That’s about one every 40 seconds.

Cardiovascular diseases claim more lives than all forms of cancer combined.

American Heart Month is an excellent time to teach your family and friends that cardiovascular disease can often be prevented by making healthy choices and properly managing their existing health conditions.

Spotlighting Cardiovascular Disease: A Look at Chronic Heart Failure
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a progressive condition that becomes increasingly common with age, affecting more than 10% of adults over 70, and carries serious consequences, including a 50–75% mortality rate within five years of diagnosis and frequent hospital readmissions. Beyond physical symptoms like breathlessness and unpredictable fatigue, CHF significantly impacts quality of life by limiting daily activities, increasing dependence on others, and contributing to depression and loss of identity.

From our Journals

Health Education & Behavior

• Determining Contextual Factors for a Heart Failure Self-Care Intervention: A Consensus Delphi Study (ACHIEVE) 
• Intersecting Structural Barriers and Hypertension Management Among Middle East and North Africa Refugees Resettled in the United States: A Qualitative Study
• Health for Hearts United Longitudinal Trial: Improving Perceived Stress and Allostatic Load Outcomes of Mid-Life and Older African American Women

Health Promotion Practice

• The Pre-Implementation Phase of a Project Seeking to Deliver a Community-Based CVD Prevention Intervention (SPICES-Sussex): A Qualitative Study Exploring Views and Experience Relating to Intervention Development
• Using the Practical Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) to Identify and Address Provider-Perceived Barriers to Optimal Statin Prescribing and Use in Community Health Centers