Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Aspire for Healthy Hearts

12-12. Increase the proportion of adults who have had their blood pressure measured within the preceding 2 years and can state whether their blood pressure was normal or high.



12-15. Increase the proportion of adults who have had their blood cholesterol checked within the preceding 5 years.



27-5. Reduce the proportion of adults who use tobacco products.



22-1. Increase the proportion of adults who engage in any leisure-time physical activity.

Prevent Development of Risk Factors

Through population and clinical approaches, increase the percentage of children and adults who engage in heart-healthy behaviors to prevent the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Detect and Treat Risk Factors

Increase the percentage of patients who have their CVD risk factors detected and who implement lifestyle and/or pharmacologic intervention and successfully control their blood pressure and cholesterol levels and weight to prevent the development of CVD.

1. Establish a network of project partners to inform stakeholders and community members about the impact of heart disease on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and to gain support from various AAPI communities.

2. Obtain user feedback on the network's use of products and materials including NHLBI's "Addressing Cardiovascular Health in Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: A Background Report" and "Asian American and Pacific Islander Workshops Summary Report on Cardiovascular Health."

3. Gather ethnic-specific information on AAPI attitudes on various topics, such as health information needs, knowledge and awareness of heart disease and associated risk factors, language preferences, and culture-specific factors affecting heart health. Target groups: Filipinos, Samoans, Southeast Asians (Vietnamese, Hmong, Cambodian, Laotian).

Many AAPIs are unaware that heart disease is their leading cause of death. For example, a study of Southeast Asians in Ohio found that 94 percent of the participants did not know what blood pressure is, and 85 percent did not know what can be done to prevent heart disease (Chen et al., 1991).

Specifically, increasing their level of awareness of: 1) the risk factors of heart disease, 2) how to prevent the development of risk factors, and 3) how to promote heart-healthy behaviors will be the initial steps toward improving their "readiness" to make heart-healthy behavior changes. Therefore, activities and educational programs with increasing focus on behavioral skills will be developed to influence lifestyle changes.