Stroke Prevention

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States (National Stroke Association, 2010). Stroke is also a leading cause of disability. Approximately every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a stroke which is about 795,000 per year (National stroke Association, 2010). The incidence of stroke makes it a major health problem in the United States. Prevention and early intervention is the key to reducing death and disability from stroke. Cost effective prevention strategies are needed for the delivery of stroke awareness and prevention. A priority of our health care system should be to educate the community about stroke risk factors and stroke warning signs to decrease potential death and disability from this preventable disease. Increasing the public’s awareness and knowledge of stroke is challenging because of co-existing illness, age of population, and heath literacy. The main priority of this project is to improve public awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of a stroke, and what action to take. For this project I am focusing on an area in the United States known as the stroke buckle. The stroke buckle is a region consisting of 153 counties in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia (Shrira, Cristenfield, & Howard, 2008). The stroke buckle has had a stroke mortality rate higher than the rest of the United States for five decades (Shrira, et al., 2008). I would provide community-based education on stroke awareness and prevention in settings such as community centers, senior centers, and churches within the stroke buckle region. A study performed focused on the impact of a community based stroke screening program on the knowledge of participants regarding signs and symptoms of stroke and risk factors for stroke (Willoughby, Sanders, & Privette, 2001). The findings of this study showed the importance of community based screening programs for increasing the public’s knowledge of stroke prevention and risk factors

References: American Heart Association. (2010). Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: Update at-a-glance. www.americanheart.org Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Cotunga, N., Vickery, C., & Carpenter-Haefele, K. (2005). Evaluation of literacy level of patient education pages in health related journals. Journal of Community Health, 30, 213-219. Elliott, L. (2004). Management of hypertension in the very elderly patient. Hypertension, 44, 800-804. Lowenstein, A., Foord-May, L., & Romano, J. (2009). Teaching strategies for health education and health promotion: Working with patients, families, and communities. Boston: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Miller, E., King, K., Miller, R., & Kleindorfer, D. (2007). FAST Stroke Prevention Educational Program for Middle School Students: pilot study results. Journal of Neuroscience, 39(4), 236-242. Miller, T., & Spilker, J. (2003). Readiness to change and educational interventions: Successful strategies to reduce stroke risk. The Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 35, 215-222. National Stroke Association. (2010). Fact Sheets. www.stroke.org Rosamound, W., Flegal, K., Friday, G., Furie, K., Go, A., & Greenlund, K Shrira, I., Christenfield, N., & Howard, G. (2008). Exposure to the US Stroke Buckle as a Risk Factor for Cerebrovascular Mortality. Neuroepidemiology, 30, 229-233. Sullivan, K., White, K., Young, R., & Scott, C Travis, L., Flemminng, S., Brown, R., Meissner, I., McClelland, R., & Weigand, S. (2003). Awareness of stroke risk factors, symptoms, and treatment is poor in people at highest risk. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 12, 221-227. Willough, D., Sanders, S., & Privette, A. (2001). The Impact of a Stroke Screening Program. Public Health Nursing, 18(6), 418-423.