Through collaborations with health care organizations, uninsured Montgomery County residents received quality hypertension and nutrition care
In Montgomery County, Maryland, high blood pressure and nutrition insecurity are health crises disproportionately facing under-resourced residents. The American Heart Association Greater Washington Region (AHA GWR), with support from a two-year “Empowering Health Care” grant UnitedHealth Group, worked alongside three Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHCs) including CCI Health & Wellness Community Service Center, the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC) Clinic, and the Muslim Community Center Medical Clinic (MCC).
Through the “Empowering Health Care” grant from UnitedHealth Group, the AHA was able to enhance the three FQHCs’ access to at-home blood pressure monitoring, health maintenance tools and other educational resources for participating patients and health care staff. In addition to supporting patients with hypertension, the collaboration enabled qualified food insecure individuals to connect with food assistance healthcare professionals and federal nutrition assistance programs.
To support the blood pressure initiative, the AHA provided each healthcare organization with training sessions around blood pressure measurement skills, adopting blood pressure measurement and treatment policies, and diabetes management. In December 2023, the AHA hosted the final training on the American Medical Association M.A.P framework led by Dr. Kelly Epps-Anderson, interventional cardiologist at INOVA and AHA GWR past president of the board of directors. M.A.P, which stands for Measure Accurately, Act Rapidly, and Partner with Patients, Families, and Communities, is a proven method for reducing hypertension.
“One patient enrolled in the initiative in early January because her BP was 164/81 during her care visit. We gave her a cuff and AHA educational tools,” said Janise Winkfield, lead registered nurse from CCI. “After her two-week follow-up visit, the patient’s BP was improved and in a range of 126/73. Her daughter said at-home measurement cuff and healthy meal resources made a positive difference.”
The AHA team also supported the health care organizations to improve their patient hypertension control rates. The organizations submitted their patient blood pressure data to AHA’s Target: BP Achievement Awards that showcase their commitment to improving the standard of care. This data provided the AHA with a snapshot of performance throughout the years, ensuring that appropriate clinical and technical support was provided as needed. Target: BP encourages organizations to strengthen care processes by adopting evidence-based activities. The six evidence-based blood pressure activities include blood pressure (BP) device calibration, BP device validation, staff knowledge and training, staff skills testing, BP measurement protocol, and posting a BP measurement infographic in health center. With all the resources and training provided by the AHA, the health care organizations were able to adopt more evidence-based activities compared to last year.
“By giving out the blood pressure machine and blood pressure log, patients are encouraged to monitor their blood pressure at home,” said Yuhsin Chou, assistant to the clinical director at CCACC. “Patients would bring back the log at the next visit, which helps our health care professionals track patient conditions more easily. We appreciate having more resources to better serve our patients.”
To screen patients for food insecurity, the AHA helped the three health care organizations set up or review their electronic medical record to ensure the Hunger Vital Sign tool, a validated food security screener, was active. This screening tool identified patients at risk for food insecurity and allowed clinicians to refer them to emergency food assistance organizations such as food pantries, food banks or federal nutrition assistance programs. Over the grant’s two years, 1,789 patients were screened, and over 171 received referrals to local food assistance services.
In addition to nutrition security and blood pressure support, comprehensive diabetes management training was provided to more than 10 care team staff. This training focused on treatment protocols and lifestyle modifications. The goal was to provide ongoing support to care team staff so they could empower patients to eat balanced meals and self-monitor their conditions, as managing hypertension and diabetes often involves maintaining a healthy diet.
While focusing on the physical and nutritional care of patients is important, during regular meetings with the three health care organizations, AHA staff were able to understand the needs of their specific communities and identify incentives that educated their patients on key health factors. As a result, AHA provided portion control plates, magnets showcasing different blood pressure ranges, and validated automated blood pressure cuffs.
“AHA’s educational materials, BP monitors and training gave our staff a lot of information to give to patients, improving their care through blood pressure tracking and control,” said Suad Abdi, quality assurance manager at Muslim Community Center Medical Clinic. “We noticed an increase in not only patients accurately adjusting their medications whenever necessary, but most importantly, increases in patients taking their medications on a regular basis.”
Thanks to the UnitedHealth Group grant, these resources have yielded successful results for all three healthcare organizations. Through pre- and post-assessments of patients’ hypertension levels, the findings proved impactful. There has been similar success with training staff focusing on nutrition security and hypertension management. Positive shifts in health behaviors along with heightened awareness are just two examples of how patients are strengthening their personal connections to their health and safety with the UnitedHealth Group grant.
For the duration of the grant, Trang Bui, former community impact manager and graduate student at George Washington University, coordinated and curated the relationships with the UnitedHealth Group staff and three health care organizations. Ms. Bui was a key leader for the past two years, enabling a smooth and effective work system. The AHA thanks Trang for her great work and successful grant coordination.
“Relationships like this one with UnitedHealth Group create opportunities for collaboration in health care education and awareness. When health care professionals work together, clinicians are better equipped to provide comprehensive care, and under-resourced communities benefit from improved health advice, care, and resources,” said Lucía Zegarra, community impact director for AHA GWR. “We are proud of the outcomes from our two-year Empowering Health Care grant with UnitedHealth Group. We hope to see continued collaboration across health care organizations to drive holistic support for patients, and better health outcomes.”
To learn more about these initiatives, contact our Community Impact Director, Lucía Zegarra at Lucia.Zegarra@Heart.org.
Written by: Madison Knapp, community health coordinator