Running Head: WOMENS HEART HEALTH: PROMOTING UW HEALTH CLINICS

Womens Heart Health:

Promoting UW Health Clinics
Lauren Zielsdorf
Purdue University
WOMENS HEART HEALTH: PROMOTING UW HEALTH CLINICS 1

Heart health among women is a major concern for the medical industry. More women

die of heart disease than all other cancers combined. Additionally, most women older than 50

have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Despite women being at great risk of suffering

heart issues, few women have the conversation with their physicians regarding heart disease

risks. However, it is known that leading a heart healthy lifestyle can lower a womans risk of

suffering a heart event by 80 percent. Several risk factors exist for women in terms of poor heart

health including high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, smoking and health history.

UW Health, located in Madison Wisconsin and part of the University of Wisconsin

systems, aims to provide a robust treatment, prevention and education program around womens

heart health. These initiative include prevention, screening, rehabilitation, trial programs and

research. Education is at the core of this issue to help women understand the risks they face. To

achieve success in broadening the scope of their efforts, UW Health will coordinate a strategic

communication plan to disseminate these programs.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm), In a 2005 survey, most respondents 92% -

recognized chest pain as a symptom of a heart attack. Only 27% were aware of all major

symptoms and knew to call 9-1-1 when someone was having a heart attack. This suggests that

UW Health needs to increase efforts to educate women on the risks and symptoms.

Implementing a strategic communication plan around these efforts will provide a road map for

the UW Health clinics. According to Hoover (2010), SCPs can serve this purpose and, from an

organizational perspective, facilitate the implementation of initiatives or major organizational

change efforts (p. 18). This data translates to the local level. According to the Wisconsin
WOMENS HEART HEALTH: PROMOTING UW HEALTH CLINICS 2

Department of Health Services (n.d.), In 2005, more than 34% of all Wisconsin deaths (15,892)

were due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). This included 7,608 deaths due to coronary

(ischemic) heart disease, 1,440 deaths due to congestive heart failure, and 2,952 deaths due to

stroke. CVD is the leading cause of death among men and women of all racial and ethnic groups.

Based on 2005 data, CVD causes more deaths annually than cancer, AIDS, automobile crashes,

domestic abuse, and alcohol abuse combined (Heart Disease: Facts and Figures, n.d.).

To create a communication plan, UW Health must first identify key stakeholders they

will incorporate in their messaging. The first set of stakeholders that should be considered

critical to the plan are, of course, women over 50. Since this gender and age group present with

the highest risk, a communication plan needs to center around this demographic. This group

represents an expanded opportunity for education. While age and health history cannot be

controlled, lifestyle changes and risk factor awareness can have a positive impact on women over

50.

The second group that needs to be included as an important set of stakeholders are nurses.

Dunbar, Mensah and Labarthe (2005) share, Individually, nurses interact with patients in

primary, secondary, and tertiary care settings, and represent an important healthcare provider

group whose potential collective capacity to serve as change agents in the area of heart disease

and stroke is enormous (p. 123). Nurses are frontline staff that, at times, know their patients on

a more personal level than physicians. This key group is critical to help identify those at risk and

educate women regardless of age.

The third and final group to be considered key stakeholders is women 18-35 years old.

This group represents the most area of success for prevention programming. Eadie and Davies

(1992) share, Extensive research had indicated that the public are more responsive to images
WOMENS HEART HEALTH: PROMOTING UW HEALTH CLINICS 3

and messages of positive health experiences than to the negative and more distant images of

disease and its consequences (p. 90). Adding this young demographic of women, preventative

programs may see reportable outcomes on reducing heart health issues in the future.

In conclusion, UW Health needs to consider a three prong approach to their strategic

communication plan. The plan needs to incorporate prevention, education and treatment. If this

plan includes three critical groups of stakeholders. The stakeholders need to include women

over 50, nurses, and women between the ages of 18-35. These stakeholders represent each of the

three areas the initiatives seek to accomplish.

WOMENS HEART HEALTH: PROMOTING UW HEALTH CLINICS 4

References

Anonymous. (2017). Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Care. Retrieved from UW Health:
http://www.uwhealth.org/heart-cardiovascular/womens-heart-health-program/10852

Dunbar, B. M. (2005). Building Bridges: A Partnership Between Professional Nursing and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to Reduce the Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke. American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, 122-127.

Eadie, D. a. (1992). Researching communication approaches to heart disease prevention. Health

Education Journal, 90-93.

Heart Disease: Facts and Figures. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wisconsin Department of Health Services:
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/heart-disease/facts.htm

Hoover, C. (2010). The Strategic Communicatin Plan. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 16-21.