It’s back to school time and that means…Pop Quiz!

True or False: Sudden cardiac arrest usually occurs in a hospital setting.

Answer: False. Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death and, unfortunately, about 88% of sudden cardiac arrests occur at home. This makes it likely that a loved one who has been trained in CPR will mean the difference between life and death.

Question: For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, chances of survival decrease by ____ percent.

Answer: Chances of survival decrease by 7-10%. That's why it's important that we all learn how easy---and critical---it is to take action.

As our kids settle into the new school year, let's ensure they also learn the skills necessary to become the next generation of life savers--in just one class period!


Your homework assignment?  Take a moment now to let our decision makers know you support CPR training for Delaware's students!

• Senate Bill 214, to provide daily physical activity during the school day in grades K-5, passed through the Senate but did not advance in the House.
• House Bill 299 was introduced to ensure that an entire generation of Delawareans knows how to save a life by making CPR a graduation requirement.
• Work to increase funding for the state’s built environment to promote walkability and bikability netted a 90% increase in the state budget—$13.25 million for a healthier Delaware.

As of March 31, 2012, 37 elementary and middle schools in Delaware have ongoing school-level Safe Routes to School programs. This represents about 20 percent of Safe Routes to School-eligible Delaware public schools, including charter schools. Private schools serving students in grades K-8 are also eligible. Six schools in Delaware were awarded consultant planning assistance in January 2012 using federal Safe Routes to School program funding. Planning of infrastructure projects is currently underway at these schools, three of which are in New Castle County, two in Kent County and one in Sussex County. The most commonly requested infrastructure improvements requested in Delaware are bike racks, school zone signage, sidewalks, ADA curb ramps and crosswalk striping.  Read More

On May 16th, You're the Cure for Heart Disease and Stroke at Legislative Hall!

The American Heart Association invites you, your family and friends to join us on Wednesday, May 16th for the 2012 Delaware Advocacy Day at Legislative Hall in Dover.

YOUR voice can help saves lives and build a healthier tomorrow for all Delawareans.  We'll be asking our lawmakers to support physical activity in schools legislation, as well as the Governor's proposal to invest more than $15M this year in bike trails and other pedestrian improvements.  Together we can make physical activity in our communities safe and accessible.

Register now!

Click here to learn more!

The American Heart Association / American Stroke Association supports and advocates for public policies that will help improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths by coronary heart disease and stroke by 20 percent by 2020.



 The following are the public policy priorities for Delaware in 2011-2012:

• Support Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in the School Environment – The American Heart Association will work with the Secretaries of the Department of Education and of the Department of Health and Social Services, the Director of the Division of Public Health, the Administration, Nemours Health and Prevention Services, and the legislature to advance legislation that will expand opportunities for kids to engage in physical activity throughout the school day and ask schools to report on the physical activity students engage in throughout the school day.
• Support Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in the Community Environment – The American Heart Association will provide continued leadership to the Delaware Healthy Eating and Active Living Coalition (DE HEAL) to incorporate policy, systems, and environmental changes that weave better eating and increased activity into the lives of all Delawareans. This coalition and its numerous participants are working together to change the health care setting, communities, schools, everywhere that people live, play, learn, and work. Specifically, we will seek to advance built environment and transportation priorities that emphasize physical activity and access to healthy foods in communities; including advocacy for bike and walking trails related to a significant Bond Bill appropriation during the last legislative session. The coalition supports healthy communities’ concepts, including the development and use of community assessment tools that encourage walk-ability, multi-modal transportation, linkages and multiuse zoning, and recreational facilities and amenities integration.
• Support Implementation of Health Care Reform - The American Heart Association long recognized the need to reform our health care system and applauded passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by the 111th Congress. The AHA will work with state, local, and community partners public and private to ensure that reforms are implemented with fidelity to the Act’s patient-centered protections, vision for improving the quality of health care delivery, and focus on prevention. AHA recognizes that reducing fragmentation within the health care system is integral to the success of reform’s goals of improving patient care and reducing costs.

We will continue to keep you updated as we advance these policy priorities through 2012.

The rate of overweight among children has tripled over the past 30 years. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign highlights the growing public interest in finding ways to reverse this trend. One factor that may be important in shaping children’s dietary intake and weight is food prices. This report estimates the effect of food prices on children’s Body Mass Index (BMI) using variation in food prices across time and geographic areas.

The study found that food prices have small but statistically significant effects on children’s BMI, but not all food prices have the same effect. While the magnitude of the price effects is similar for healthier and less healthy foods, the direction differs. Lower prices for some healthier foods, such as lowfat milk and dark green vegetables, are associated with decreases in children’s BMI. In contrast, lower prices for soda, 100-percent juices, starchy vegetables, and sweet snacks are associated with increases in children’s BMI.

Highlights include:

• A 10-percent price decrease for lowfat milk in the previous quarter is associated with a decrease in BMI of approximately 0.35 percent, or about 0.07 BMI unit for an 8- to 9-year-old.

• A 10-percent drop in the price of dark green vegetables (e.g., spinach and broccoli) in the previous quarter is associated with a reduction in BMI of 0.28 percent.

• A decrease in the price of sweet snacks during the previous quarter is associated with an increase in BMI of 0.27 percent.

Please click here to access the study.

The American Lung Association has released the 2010 edition of State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI), an annual summary/compendium of state tobacco control laws. The 2010 edition covers state tobacco control laws as they stood on January 1, 2011.

The report covers many issues, including:

• The Individual State’s Smoking Restrictions in Public Places and Workplaces

• Rate and History of Tobacco Excise Taxes

• Laws Regarding Youth Access to Tobacco and Sales to Minors

• State Spending on Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Programs and Use of dollars from state settlements with tobacco companies

You can access the report here.

Countries with lower national income have disproportionately higher rates of death and disability associated with stroke compared with ischemic heart disease, according to a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.


Together, ischemic heart disease and stroke are the two leading causes of death worldwide. Ischemic heart disease accounts for 12.2 percent of all deaths and stroke for 9.7 percent, according to the World Health Organization Global Burden of Disease Program.

But the relative rates of death and disability from heart disease and stroke vary considerably from country to country. In general, stroke death rates and disease burden appeared to be disproportionately higher than those for ischemic heart disease in African and Asian countries, while they were lower in North American, Western and Northern European countries, and Australia.

more . . .

Obesity is still on the rise across the U.S.

Adult obesity rates have topped 25 percent in more than two-thirds of U.S. states, according to the latest edition of a report that tracks obesity levels in all 50 states.

Obesity increased in 16 states last year and did not decline in any, according to "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011," by Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report includes state-by-state data on obesity trends.

Download "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011."

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is pleased to announce the release of a new publication entitled Safe Routes to School Local Policy Guide. (hi-resolution version, 34MB)

The Local Policy Guide was published to help local communities and schools create, enact and implement policies which will support active and healthy community environments that encourage safe walking and bicycling and physical activity by children through a Health in All Policies approach. The guide was made possible due to funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Public Health Association.

The Local Policy Guide highlights strategies to advance policy change and covers more than 20 policy change examples including: regional transportation plans, Complete Streets, fine based mechanisms, school bonds, crossing guards, health impact assessments, joint-use agreements, speed limits, and more. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Local Policy Guide was compiled through the help of more than a dozen leaders throughout the country who provided success stories and examples of local policy wins; we thank everyone who assisted for their help and contributions.

Read more here.

New cigarette warning labels unveiled by the Food and Drug Administration will help give us the momentum needed to eradicate tobacco use in our nation. For the first time in 25 years, cigarette warning labels have been dramatically altered to graphically demonstrate the specific, serious health risks associated with smoking and these warnings will not only tell smokers how bad tobacco use is, but also direct them to smoking cessation resources that can help them quit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 45 million Americans smoke cigarettes, about 20 percent of the population, and one in five high school students still smoke. The new health warnings represent an aggressive and welcome approach to reducing smoking rates that have leveled off in recent years as tobacco companies continue to launch campaigns to entice new smokers and maintain current customers.

The American Heart Association strongly believes that the graphic depictions of smoking-related diseases on cigarette packages will drive home the message that tobacco use is an equal opportunity killer, affecting smokers and nonsmokers alike. In the U.S., about one-third of smoking-related deaths are linked to heart disease and stroke. Cigarette smoking causes about 443, 000 premature deaths each year and about 49, 000 of these deaths are due to secondhand smoke. Undoubtedly, the new graphic health warnings will heighten awareness about the dangers of smoking and more importantly, encourage smokers to quit and discourage smoking initiation. We’re confident that the new labels will move us closer to our goal of making the nation 100 percent smoke-free.

http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/CigaretteWarningLabels/default.htm

Ken Jeong combines his comedic prowess with his medical training in a new Hands-Only CPR video from the American Heart Association that uses the disco hit "Stayin' Alive" to help people remember what to do in a sudden cardiac arrest.



"I may play insanely crazy and comedic characters on screen, but as an internal medicine physician in real life, I want people to know that sudden cardiac arrest is a serious matter," said Jeong, star of The Hangover, The Hangover Part 2, and the NBC series Community, returning for its 3rd season this fall. "Immediate action can be the difference between life and death. Everyone needs to know it's in their hands to help save a life."

Ken is supporting the launch of the American Heart Association's "White Suit" campaign - a fun campaign designed to save lives by raising funds for our mission and increasing awareness of Hands-Only CPR. Traditional and online media promotions, retail promotions (paper "white suit" sales for $1), online and social media outreach and an email campaign have all been launched. In addition, we are working with Crowdrise.com, an innovative social fundraising website founded by actor Edward Norton, to raise money to support the association's lifesaving research and educational programs.

Directed by filmmaker Jesse Dylan (the creative force behind will.i.am's "Yes, We can" video and Bono's "RED" campaign), Ken's video opens with a group of friends engaged in a lively game of charades. Suddenly one of the guests collapses from cardiac arrest. From the sidelines, Jeong comes to the rescue - clad in a white suit reminiscent of the one worn by John Travolta in the classic film "Saturday Night Fever." He dances around and instructs how to perform Hands-Only CPR using the beat of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" to keep them on track - a song that is the near-perfect rhythm for performing CPR chest compressions.

This is the final installment of our glossary of key terms used in the Advocacy world.

Phone-banking: Calling a list of people, generally in your local area, to speak with them regarding the issues. YTC advocates could also make calls to lapsed networkers encouraging them to reengage and asking for updated information. A volunteer who attends a phone bank and makes calls would receive credit for one offline action.

Phone calls to lawmakers: The purpose is to alert the lawmaker to the issues and inform them about why they should support the upcoming legislation. Be clear, brief, and educated. Mention upfront if you are a constituent.

Photo-Opportunities: Call attention to your issue with an activity that includes compelling visuals such as props, signs or physical activity. Create a photo-op for local media and provide background information for a caption with key messages and names of participants. As with any Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

Press Releases: A press release is used to announce new information, new facts or milestone accomplishments of your program/agenda. Whether proactive or reactive, press releases should be short and – of course – newsworthy. In addition to local media outlets, be sure to target legislators, legislative staff, state officials and their staffs, and allied groups with your releases. As with any Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

Public Hearings: When the public is invited to have a say in the issues in meetings that governing bodies will attend to discuss certain issues. Public hearings are often convened by public officials (elected and appointed) as well as by community groups and administrative agencies. Once a bill is filed, it is sent to a specific committee where it will receive a public hearing. Legislation that is being considered will be reviewed at a public hearing, or series of hearings, so that the public and interest groups might weigh in. Depending on the outcome of the hearing, that committee can vote to advance the bill to a higher committee; to oppose advancement of the bill; or to let it die in committee through inaction. The AHA participates in local, state and federal public hearings and can offer expert testimony as well as poignant personal accounts of why a policy change is needed. An YTC volunteer who gives testimony at a public hearing receives credit for one offline action. It is important to have relationships with committee staff in order to monitor the hearing schedule and understand the committee’s protocol.

Rallies: Hosting a group of people to spread information about your cause, as well as to gain interest. A well-designed rally will feature a sizeable number of people coming together for a call-to-action. They might be rallying in support of daily PE in the schools, rallying against budget cuts to health care for the uninsured, or rallying to make a local mall smoke-free. Whatever the cause, the „problem‟ that brought the group together is significant enough to get them to drop everything to make some noise in an effort to draw attention to the need for a change. Rallies, sometimes, can make people uncomfortable because they can seem very “in your face” and even confrontational. However, they can also be very positive and embracing, such as rallies to thank lawmakers for a particular action (while encouraging the next step in adoption or implementation.) They should be done strategically and should include persuasive speakers that can compel a crowd to action. Legislative allies and “real people” should be included as speakers. Rallies can be an effective and inexpensive media advocacy tool and the Triple C rule is in effect: Coordinate with Colleagues in Communications.

Rolling Drop-by: Having a group of advocates scheduled to stop by a lawmaker’s office separately with the same message. Having the same message heard from multiple sources can be more effective than a large group, because the lawmaker believes that there is a lot of interest. The advocates can be spaced throughout the day, every 15 to 30 minutes.

Site Visits: A site visit often serves to educate a member on the intricacies of a particular issue as well as putting a human face on the issue being discussed. For example, AHA may invite a lawmaker to visit and tour a research site or medical facility to learn more about Heart Disease and Stroke research or treatment or other related issues.

Social Media: Social Media (sometimes referred to as Web 2.0) refers to rapidly expanding group of online mediums where the audience not only receives information, but can interact with the moderator. Some of the tools included in this category are blogs and microblogs like Twitter, social networks like Facebook and MySpace, and social tagging applications like Digg and Delicious.
Visibility events (community events, drive-time, etc.): Being a presence in the community, including various local events not specific to your cause, to draw awareness and attention. In order to influence decision-makers, any visibility activities should be done at a time and in a location that will garner the most attention. If you have people holding signs, for example, it makes sense to schedule during rush hour drive time to impact the most motorists. And, sometimes, visibility actions are even softer such as having YTC volunteers participate in a Heart Walk or other event while promoting YTC on their clothing, by holding signs, staffing a YTC booth or distributing YTC materials. AHA staff/YTC volunteers could also participate in a Lobby Day or fundraising event for another organization while wearing an AHA pin or T-shirt. Or, AHA could be participating in a coalition event – a rally or a press conference – and you might consider having people “do visibility” by holding AHA signs, carrying AHA balloons, etc.
 
Click here to download the full You're the Cure Dictionary.

Do you know your heart score?
Find out today by taking the My Life Check and learn the 7 simple steps to live better...in just 7 minutes!

Recent research shows that Americans think they are in better heart health than they really are. According to an American Heart Association survey, nearly 40% thought they were in ideal heart health, when in reality, less than 1% of Americans have an ideal profile.

Click here to take the My Life Check!

To find out how healthy you are, we’ve developed a new health assessment tool called My Life Check. It will give you an overall health score and create an action plan to move you closer to your individual health goals. No matter what you score, any healthy change can help you live a longer, better life.

To take My Life Check, you should know following risk factors and behaviors about yourself:

Cardiovascular health factors:
1. Total Cholesterol
2. Blood Pressure
3. Blood Glucose/Sugar Levels

Cardiovascular health behaviors:
4. Smoking Status
5. Current Weight
6. Current Level of Physical Activity
7. Current Eating Habits

Make a difference one heart at a time….once you get your heart score, send this page to 7 people you care about with a challenge to find out their heart score!

Part two of key terms that we use regularly:

Free media (sometimes called ‘earned media): Publicity for your issue or organization that is generated without direct compensation to the media source. Press events, photo-ops, Letter to the Editor, rallies, public testimony and other actions are ways to attract the media to pay attention to your work and, perhaps, report on it. As with any Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

Grassroots: The term grassroots describes every-day people who live (and vote) in a particular legislative district. We are all grassroots in relation to those elected to represent our interests from the level of Town Meeting up to the President of the United States.

Grassroots base: Organizations like the AHA try to develop grassroots support for particular mission-related issues such as tobacco control, physical activity, school nutrition, etc. By identifying individuals who care about a specific issue, AHA is able to connect those grassroots members in their base to influence the lawmakers and decision-makers who have the power to change related policy. As a You’re the Cure networker, you are an essential piece of the AHA‟s grassroots base.

Media Advocacy: Helps to shape public opinion, along with educating the public on the issues and any current proposals. Also helps influence decision makers. Media includes more traditional forms such as newspapers, magazines, radios and television, but also the internet. Make sure you have clear message points to get across if you are reaching out to the media. Whenever undertaking a Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

News Conferences: As the name implies, news conferences should only be employed when there is true news or important messages to impart. Everything shared during a news conference is “on the record.” During a news conference, presentations should be kept to a minimum, if possible include “real people” (heart survivors, etc.) to put a human face on the issue and allow ample time for questions from reporters. As with any Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

Op-Eds: Readers of newspaper’s opinion-editorial (op-ed) pages include decision makers and opinion leaders. Op-eds can greatly increase the exposure of an organization’s issue and they are an invaluable method of educating decision makers. They should be offered exclusively to a single publication; if they decline, then feel free to shop it to the next outlet. As with any Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

Paid advertising: When a group pays for advertising to get their message out or show support for a cause. This can include advertising in all types of media. As with any Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

Paid media: Publicity for your issue or organization that comes through paid advertising – print, radio, television, online, billboards, etc. As with any Media Advocacy action, remember the “Triple C”: Coordinate with your Colleagues in Communications!

Petitions: A request to government officials regarding an issue. Signatures are gathered from voters, coalition partners and the general public to illustrate support for the cause. Petitions are a great way to initiate a community conversation about and issue and a gentle way to demonstrate public interest to your decision-makers, but petition-gathering does not currently count towards our goals.
 
Click here to download the full You're the Cure Dictionary.

In advocacy, we often use terms that volunteers may not be familiar with - here's your chance to learn them all!

Candidate/Lawmaker Tracking: (Also known as bird-dogging) To persistently follow a subject of interest, such as a person, lawmaker, or cause. In terms of politics, it can also refer to trying to force a lawmaker/candidate to address an issue by appearing at his/her public events and asking specific questions about your issue in an attempt to get an on-the-record response.


Direct mail: As opposed to more personal mail, this is a more general, mass-mailing designed to get your message across in large numbers to a wide audience. For advocacy purposes, a direct mail piece is often sent to a list of voters, or subset of voters, (i.e. Republican women between the ages of 35 and 50) in a particular legislative district rather than to the general population.

Decision-maker: This term refers to people that have power to give you what you want. If you want a state mandate for AEDs in health clubs, the legislature and the governor would be your decision-makers. If you want daily physical education in public schools, local school boards members would be your decision-makers.

Desk-side Media Briefings: These informal gatherings are primarily educational in nature and are intended to give beat reporters some face (or phone) time with you on your issue. Like news conferences, everything should be considered “on the record,” and like news conferences, desk-side briefings should be reserved for truly important developments. You should invite broadcast producers, but no cameras or live microphones should be allowed. The best media candidates for briefings are those which aren’t subject to daily deadlines, so you might consider weeklies, magazines, columnists and other medium-lead outlets for these informal briefings. These briefings may not result in an immediate placement, but the AHA has established itself as a resource on the issue and you may see some coverage in the future.

Door-to-door canvassing: Going around neighborhoods, knocking on doors to engage the residents in conversation about the issues along with providing resources for further learning.

Drop-by visit: To stop at a lawmaker’s office and speak with them or a staffer, also leave materials for the lawmaker to look-over. This can occur with or without an appointment with the lawmaker or staffer.

Editorial Board Meetings: Editorial boards outline the issue positions for a newspaper’s editorial page. Gaining support for your issue from a newspaper can go a long way in influencing decision makers. After researching the editorial position of the publication in question and the opposition’s point of view, recruit a small, diverse group (no more than 5 people including survivors and health/policy experts) to meet with the paper’s editorial board.
Email campaign: To spread awareness and support, including action alerts where people are encouraged to send information, via email, to their lawmaker.
 
Click here to download the full You're the Cure dictionary

As federal regulators finalize pending rules for cigarette warning labels in the U.S., it’s important to note the tremendous impact of graphic labels and statements in countries where tobacco use is deeply embedded in the culture. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report “Cigarette Package Health Warnings and Interest in Quitting Smoking” states prominent warnings on cigarette packages in countries with high adult smoking rates have been most effective in encouraging smokers to quit. The findings demonstrate the undeniable influence of large, graphic warning labels on individuals who smoke manufactured cigarettes.
Specific messages and graphic depictions of smoking-related diseases have great potential to curb a global tobacco epidemic. They can make individuals think twice about starting a deadly habit and encourage smokers to quit and improve their cardiovascular and overall health. Tobacco-related illnesses kill more than five million people worldwide each year. In the U.S. alone, about one-third of smoking-related deaths are linked to heart disease and stroke. We strongly believe that graphic warnings labels that convey information about the health risks of smoking can also discourage smoking initiation among youth and former smokers.

The American Heart Association recommends expanding the label statement and warning requirement to include information on smoking cessation resources. The Food and Drug Administration should require manufacturers to include referrals to government-run smoking cessation resources such as 1-800-quit-now and http://www.smokefree.gov/ on tobacco product packages and advertising. By including these resources along with the required label statements and graphic warnings, tobacco users would not only be told how bad tobacco use is, but also how to quit.

The online version of the journal can be found at www.cdc.gov/mmwr.