Deepening the heart and brain connection

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States. The reality is that people suffering from nutrition insecurity are more likely to be at an increased risk for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Through this initiative, we are addressing cardiovascular disease risk as well as stroke risk through a multitude of ways, whether that's in a hospital setting or in the community providing education, resources, equipment. One of the strategies that we are incorporating across the country is working with our community organization to donate commercial refrigeration units as well as other equipment that support the operations of our food pantries. We are donating these units so that they can store the freshest fruits and vegetables as well as lean proteins. If pantries are not in a position to accept healthier food donations, unfortunately they are more likely to accept things that are highly processed, foods that are high in fat, sugars. These foods do not lead to positive health outcomes. The American Heart Association saw this need and they donated a freezer, which is behind me, and a refrigerator, an industrial-sized one, for our needs. The fresh fruit and vegetables, the organic things that we are able to receive here and distribute to our neighbors in need. One day, the new man took the box and he loaded it into his car. I could see he was looking at everything that was in that box. He turned around to me and he was crying because the fresh fruit, the fresh vegetables, all the things that we take for granted, the things that he didn't have to feed his family. Looking at every single patient as an individual, looking at where they live, what's their background in terms of education, and what kind of resources are they going to have. What you cook at home, do you grab the bag of chips or are you thinking about having fresh vegetables on your plate at every meal? So it really is a whole family dynamic change. Through this collaboration, we are bringing healthcare providers to our community members to provide health education. We worked in 15 select communities across our HCE system to implement community education, risk factor awareness, and then we've also developed this healthcare professional education. The donation of life-saving blood pressure cuffs to vulnerable community members, local pregnant women, and postpartum mothers to ensure that they're able to monitor their blood pressure more closely. The collaboration is speeding up the time to diagnosis and really understanding the etiology of their neuro issues and their stroke care, and so the collaboration has allowed us to provide more multidisciplinary care in our hospital. It's not just that initial treatment, but what happens after they leave your hospital. When we work outside of our silos and really come together with the patient being in the center, it's amazing the results that you can get. It's really a team sport. When we bring in cardiology with neurology in a formal way and we really have that culture of working together to improve stroke care, we can really see an opportunity that translates educational opportunities. It can take evidence-based medicine that is new and it'll get it closer to the bedside.