Heart Health Resource Guide
Welcome to the online toolkit for heart health, a comprehensive resource for managing and improving cardiovascular well-being. Taking control of your heart health has never been more crucial. This toolkit is designed to empower you with the knowledge and tools needed to maintain a healthy heart. We’ve organized it into four sections, each addressing a vital aspect of heart health: Blood Pressure, Cardiac Rehab, Cholesterol Management, and Medication Adherence. Whether you’re looking to prevent heart disease or manage an existing condition, this toolkit is your go-to source for actionable information and guidance.
Blood Pressure
Fact Sheets | Consumer
- 25 Ways to Take Part in Heart Month–Each February, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute marks American Heart Month by raising awareness about heart health and urging Americans to reduce their risk for developing heart disease.
- 28 Days Toward a Healthy Heart – This tip sheet offers ideas for simple ways to incorporate heart health into every day of the month. Try a new activity each day and make your favorites part of your regular routine.
- ABCS for Heart Health–This easy-to-understand fact sheet is about the ABCS of heart health (Aspirin when appropriate, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation).
- American Heart Association “Answers by Heart” Fact Sheets–A series of downloadable patient information sheets presented in a question-and-answer format that’s brief, easy to follow, and easy to read. The fact sheets also provide space to write questions to help you prepare and get the most out of your visit with your healthcare professional.
- How Can I Monitor My Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Weight?
- How Can I Reduce High Blood Pressure?
- What Is High Blood Pressure?
- What About African Americans and High Blood Pressure?
- Why Should I Limit Sodium?
- BP Raisers: Learn What Could Raise Your Blood Pressure–Keeping blood pressure under control can mean adding things to your life, such as exercise, that help lower blood pressure. It can also mean avoiding things that raise blood pressure. Here is a list of blood pressure raisers and information on how to keep your pressure from getting too high.
- Consequences of High Blood Pressure–High blood pressure is often the first domino in a chain, or “domino effect,” leading to devastating consequences.
- Healthy Blood Pressure for Healthy Hearts: Small Steps to Take Control–Learn about what high blood pressure is, how it can affect your health, and steps you can take to prevent or control you high blood pressure.
- Heart-Healthy Foods: Shopping List
- High Blood Pressure: How to Take Control of Your Goal–Share these hypertension control tip sheets with your patients to encourage them to take control their goal.
- African Americans
- How to Measure Your Blood Pressure at Home
- Know the Difference Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Disease, Coronary Heart Disease – Cardiovascular disease, heart disease, coronary heart disease — what’s the difference? Because these terms sound so similar, people use them interchangeably. This fact sheet will help you understand how these conditions differ.
- Let’s Talk About High Blood Pressure and Stroke–This downloadable resource defines high blood pressure, how it increases risk of stroke, and factors that put you at risk.
- Physical Activity for Different Groups –
- Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Blood Pressure–Many people have questions for their healthcare professionals about medications, lifestyle changes, and challenges with managing blood pressure. Use this printable list of questions to help you at your next appointment. You can even add your own questions and thoughts in the space provided.
- Questions to Ask About Your Blood Pressure (Women) – This fact sheet provides questions women may want to ask their healthcare provider about blood pressure. Topics include healthy and high blood pressure, home monitoring, and blood pressure medicine.
- Small Changes Make a Big Difference–Even small changes can make a big difference. It’s important to know about blood pressure and how to keep it in the healthy range.
- Stress Less for a Healthier Heart – Stress happens. You can’t always prevent or avoid it. But you can change how you respond to it. Try these tips. You may feel better—and have a healthier heart, too!
- Supporting Your Loved One With High Blood Pressure–Caregivers and family members play an important role in keeping hypertension under control.
- Taking Care of Our Hearts, Together–Small steps go a long way, especially when you connect with others to stay motivated. This fact sheet suggests several lifestyle changes you can make today and ways to get your friends, family, and colleagues involved.
- What Can I Do to Improve My Blood Pressure?–Describes the impact specific modifications can make on your blood pressure.
- Heart Disease Zone Tool
- High Blood Pressure Zone Tool
- Heart Failure Zone Tool
Fact Sheets | Providers and Healthcare Team
- Algorithms and Protocols
- Blood Pressure Treatment Algorithm
- Hypertension Protocol | Create your own hypertension treatment protocol using the Million Hearts template, guidance document, and interactive guide.
- Kaiser Permanente
- Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vital Signs Fact Sheet: Preventing Stroke Deaths
- Community Health Workers and Million Hearts–Community health workers can play a key role in team-based care for patients with chronic diseases, particularly for individuals facing health disparities.
- How to Measure Blood Pressure Effectively–This handout demonstrates how to measure blood pressure properly.
- Supporting Your Patients With High Blood Pressure Visit Checklist–Effective provider-patient communication improves health outcomes and saves time. Use this checklist with sample questions to communicate better with your patients during every visit.
Toolkits
- Integrating Cardiovascular Disease Risk Calculators into Primary Care
- Hypertension Communications Kit–Spread awareness of heart disease and stroke prevention by sharing these resources on your social media pages and with your colleagues.
- American Heart Association Hypertension Guideline Toolkit–This toolkit offers a variety of essential guideline-related resources.
- American Heart Association Hypertension Guideline Toolkit for Pharmacists
- Million Hearts Hypertension Control Change Package, Second Edition–The Hypertension Control Change Package (HCCP) provides a listing of process improvements that outpatient clinical settings can implement as they seek optimal hypertension control. The HCCP is composed of change concepts, change ideas, and evidence- or practice-based tools and resources. The HCCP is divided into four focus areas: key foundations, equipping care teams, population health management, and individual patient supports.
- Finding Undiagnosed Hypertensive Patients Video
- Million Hearts COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Disease Partner Toolkit–This toolkit includes tools approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention that you can use to encourage individuals to continue seeking cardiovascular care at this time.
- Million Hearts Undiagnosed Hypertension Partner Toolkit–Many Americans with hypertension visit their healthcare providers regularly but remain undiagnosed. Million Hearts has developed clinician and patient resources to help you find patients with hypertension who are hiding in plain sight in your system or practice.
- Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring for Clinicians – This guide provides a comprehensive plan and resources for clinicians who want to support SMBP in their practices and health care systems.
Helpful Resources – Local/State
- American Heart Association Indianapolis
- Indiana Department of Health Division of Chronic Disease, Primary Care, and Rural Health
- Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
National
Cardiac Rehabilitation
Fact Sheets
- Cardiac Rehabilitation: Saving Lives, Restoring Health, Preventing Disease–Learn about challenges in the existing cardiac rehabilitation infrastructure, as well as strategies needed to maximize uptake of programs in the United States.
- Cardiac Rehabilitation: An Underutilized Service
- Life After a Heart Attack: My Discharge Worksheet–Use this checklist to help you navigate the days between hospital discharge and your follow-up visit with your doctor.
- Preparing for Medical Visits: PACE Guide Sheet–Because office visits are short (about 15 minutes), preparing can help you make the most of your time with your doctor. Researchers at Ohio State University developed the PACE Guide Sheet to give you an easy way to organize your feelings, questions, and concerns before your visit.
- Questions to Ask About Cardiac Rehabilitation
- What Is Cardiac Rehabilitation?
Toolkit
- Million Hearts Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package–The Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package (CRCP) provides a listing of process improvements that CR champions can implement as they seek optimal CR utilization. It is composed of change concepts, change ideas, and tools and resources. With each change idea, the CRCP lists one or more evidence- or practice-based tools and resources that can be adapted by or adopted in a healthcare setting to improve CR utilization.
- Million Hearts Cardiac Rehabilitation Communications Toolkit
Helpful Resources – National
Cholesterol Management
Fact Sheets | Consumers
- ABCS for Heart Health – This easy-to-understand fact sheet is about the ABCS of heart health (Aspirin when appropriate, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation).
- American Heart Association “Answers by Heart” Fact Sheets–A series of downloadable patient information sheets presented in a question-and-answer format that’s brief, easy to follow, and easy to read. The fact sheets also provide space to write questions to help you prepare and get the most out of your visit with your healthcare professional. How Can I Monitor My Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Weight?
- How Do My Cholesterol Levels Affect My Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke?
- How Can I Improve My Cholesterol?
- Cholesterol: Myths vs. Facts
- Your Cholesterol Score Explained
Fact Sheets | Providers and Healthcare Team
- Cholesterol Management Protocols
- Kaiser Permanente National Dyslipidemia Management Clinician Guide
- Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense
- Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement
- Community Health Workers and Million Hearts–Community health workers can play a key role in team-based care for patients with chronic diseases, particularly for individuals facing health disparities.
- Fotonovela: How to Control Your Fat and Cholesterol–Promotoras and other community health workers are encouraged to read the fotonovela with participants.
- Promotora Guide: How to Control Your Fat and Cholesterol: Learning to Control Your Cholesterol and Fat Intake–This Promotora/community health worker guide accompanies the fotonovela and gives these members of the healthcare team a brief summary of objectives, tips, additional activities, reviews, and reminders.
Toolkits
- Cholesterol Management Guide for Health Care Practitioners–A convenient guide designed to assist professionals in addressing, diagnosing, and managing their patients’ cholesterol.
- My Cholesterol Guide: Take Action. Live Healthy!–Understanding and improving cholesterol is important for men, women, and children of all ages. High cholesterol contributes to a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke. Use this guide to understand cholesterol, risks, medications, treatment plans, and lifestyle changes.
Helpful Resources – National
Medication Adherence and Therapy
Fact Sheets | Consumers
- ABCS for Heart Health – This easy-to-understand fact sheet is about the ABCS of heart health (Aspirin when appropriate, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation).
- American Heart Association “Answers by Heart” Fact Sheets–A series of downloadable patient information sheets presented in a question-and-answer format that’s brief, easy to follow, and easy to read. The fact sheets also provide space to write questions to help you prepare and get the most out of your visit with your healthcare professional.
- Aspirin for Reducing Your Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke: Know the Facts
Fact Sheets | Providers and Healthcare Team
- Cardiovascular Health Medication Adherence–Reasons for medication nonadherence include complex dosing regimens, poor health professional-patient communication, use of hard-copy prescriptions, and the cost of medication. Numerous strategies, including educating patients, simplifying treatment, and coordinating patient care across the healthcare team, can improve adherence.
- Action Steps for Public Health Practitioners–This guide provides a call to action for public health practitioners to support evidence- and practice-based medication-adherence strategies that improve blood pressure control.
- Action Steps for Health Benefit Managers–This guide provides a call to action for health, employer, and pharmacy benefit managers to implement evidence-and practice-based medication-adherence strategies that improve blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation.
- Interactive Module for Healthcare Providers–This online module from the American Medical Association provides eight steps to improve medication adherence. Moving through the module, providers can find answers to common questions about how to involve staff and patients in identifying nonadherence and changing behaviors. |
- Video: Help Patients Take Blood Pressure Medicine as Directed–High blood pressure (hypertension) is one of the leading causes of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and death in the United States. One major cause of poor blood pressure control is not taking medications at the right time and in the right amount. Learn the steps you can take to help you or your loved ones.
- Improving Medication Adherence Among Patients With Hypertension: A Tip Sheet for Healthcare Professionals – Medication adherence is critical to successful hypertension control for most patients.
- The Scoop on Statins: What Do You Need to Know? – Share this one-page version with patients who need to know the benefits and risks of statins, how statins work, and who should be using them.
Toolkits
- A Facilitator’s Primary Care Toolkit to Improve Heart Health–This toolkit introduces the ABCS of heart health—Aspirin use by high-risk individuals, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation—and provides checklists, action plans, and other guidance for primary care practices implementing evidence-based guidelines, transforming healthcare delivery, and improving patients’ heart health.