Reducing Cardiovascular Risk for Patients With Diabetes: An Evidence-Based, Population Health Management Program.

ABSTRACT: Those with diabetes are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Safety net clinics serve populations that bear a significant burden of disease and disparities and are a key setting in which to focus on reducing CVD. An integrated health system provided funding and technical assistance (TA) to safety net organizations (community health centers and public hospitals) in Northern California to decrease the risk of cardiovascular events for patients with diabetes. This was a program called Preventing Heart Attacks and Strokes Everyday (PHASE), which combined an evidence-based medication protocol with population health management and team-based care strategies. The TA supported organizations by sharing best practices, providing quality improvement coaching, and facilitating peer learning. A mixed-methods evaluation found that organizations involved in PHASE improved rates of blood pressure control and cardioprotective medication prescriptions for patients with diabetes. They made progress on these measures through strategies such as leveraging team-based care, providing education on evidence-based protocols, and using data to drive improvements. The evaluation concluded that financially supporting and providing focused TA to safety net organizations can help them build capacity and leverage their strengths to improve outcomes and potentially decrease the risk of heart attacks and strokes in communities.

A Community-Wide Collaboration to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk: The Hearts of Sonoma County Initiative.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: Collaboration across multiple sectors is needed to bring about health system transformation, but creating effective and sustainable collaboratives is challenging. We describe outcomes and lessons learned from the Hearts of Sonoma County (HSC) initiative, a successful multi-sector collaborative effort to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Sonoma County, California. INTERVENTION APPROACH: HSC works in both clinical systems and communities to reduce CVD risk. The initiative grew out of a longer-term county-wide collaborative effort known as Health Action. The clinical component involves activating primary care providers around management of CVD risk factors; community activities include community health workers conducting blood pressure screenings and a local heart disease prevention campaign. EVALUATION METHODS: The impact of the clinical improvement efforts was tracked using blood pressure data from the 4 health systems participating in HSC. Descriptive information on the community-engagement efforts was obtained from program records. Lessons learned in developing and maintaining the collaborative were gathered through document review and interviews with key informants. RESULTS: Favorable trends were seen in blood pressure control among patients with hypertension in the participating health systems: patients with controlled blood pressure increased from 58% in 2014 to 67% in 2016 (P < .001). Between 2017 and 2019, the community engagement effort conducted 99 outreach events, reaching 1,751 individuals, and conducted 1,729 blood pressure screenings, with 441 individuals referred to clinical providers for follow-up care. HSC scored highly on 6 essential elements of an effective coalition and achieved a degree of sustainability that has eluded many other collaboratives. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Factors contributing to the success of HSC include 1) starting small and focused to build trust among participants and demonstrate value, 2) working within the framework of a larger effort, and 3) providing long-term, open-ended backbone support.

A Community-Level Initiative to Prevent Obesity: Results From Kaiser Permanente's Healthy Eating Active Living Zones Initiative in California.

INTRODUCTION: A growing number of health systems are leading health promotion efforts in their wider communities. What impact are these efforts having on health behaviors and ultimately health status? This paper presents evaluation results from the place-based Kaiser Permanente Healthy Eating Active Living Zones obesity prevention initiative, implemented in 2011-2015 in 12 low-income communities in Kaiser Permanente's Northern and Southern California Regions. METHODS: The Healthy Eating Active Living Zones design targeted places and people through policy, environmental, and programmatic strategies. Each Healthy Eating Active Living Zone is a small, low-income community of 10,000 to 20,000 residents with high obesity rates and other health disparities. Community coalitions planned and implemented strategies in each community. A population-dose approach and pre and post surveys were used to assess impact of policy, program, and environmental change strategies; the analysis was conducted in 2016. Population dose is the product of reach (number of people affected by a strategy divided by target population size) and strength (the effect size or relative change in behavior for each person exposed to the strategy). RESULTS: More than 230 community change strategies were implemented over 3 years, encompassing policy, environmental, and programmatic changes as well as efforts to build community capacity to sustain strategies and make changes in the future. Positive population-level results were seen for higher-dose strategies, particularly those targeting youth physical activity. Higher-dose strategies were more likely to be found in communities with the longest duration of investment. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that strong (high-dose), community-based obesity prevention strategies can lead to improved health behaviors, particularly among youth in school settings. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION: This article is part of a supplement entitled Building Thriving Communities Through Comprehensive Community Health Initiatives, which is sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, Community Health.