Epidemiology of Heart Disease in Pembroke Pines

Critical Health Issue in Pembroke Pines

Pembroke Pines is the largest city in Broward County, Florida. It has easy accessibility to employment centers, primary highways and interstates, schools, key tourist attractions, and commercial destinations. The prevalent health issue facing Pembroke Pines is heart disease. The city is a hotspot for chronic heart disease in Broward County and within the State of Florida. According to American Health Rankings (2019), heart disease accounts for three in every ten deaths in Florida. There were at least 220 coronary heart disease hospitalizations in Florida daily in 2018. Individuals with disabilities are more likely to have heart disease (11%) compared to people with no disability (4%) (CDC, 2019). In Pembroke Pines, men develop heart approximately a decade earlier than women, although the prevalence rates are almost equal for both sexes by the age of 70 (Florida Health, 2018). In terms of race, African Americans living in Pembroke Pines have higher incidence rates of heart disease with high blood pressure being the leading cause factor. At least 65% of Florida adults are overweight, and one in three children have obesity issues (Florida Health, 2018). There were at least 29, 456 deaths in Florida in 2018 that were attributed to heart disease. Broward County had the highest prevalence rates since it accounted for 15% of all the deaths (American Health Rankings, 2019).  Heart-related deaths were 3,592 in Broward Country in 2018, followed by cancer (3,497) and stroke (1,628). Heart disease accounted for 23% of all deaths in Broward County (Florida Health, 2018). Considering that Pembroke Pines is the largest city within Broward County, it indicates that heart disease is a prevalent issue in the area. As such, interventions should be put in place to ensure that it does not escalate.

Factors that Contribute to the Health Issue

Heart diseases in Pembroke Pines are mainly attributed to lifestyle factors. Most people do not engage in physical exercises, and others do not take balanced diets. This often leads to obesity among children and adults, which, in turn, increases the risk of narrowing of the arteries or atherosclerosis. Obesity also causes the building up of cholesterol in the bloodstream, and this causes irritation and inflammation of the lining of coronary arteries. Narrowing of the coronary arteries reduces flow of blood to the body and heart by 40% (CDC, 2019) Overtime, obesity leads to heart disease and can sometimes be vital.

Other causes of heart disease are diabetes, clinical depression, and smoking. Unhealthy lifestyle choices that increase the risk of developing heart disease include excessive drinking, unhealthy diets, and failure to manage diabetes, high-stress environment, and smoking.

Interventions within the Community

Broward County health officials have been working closely with Pembroke Pines’ residents to create awareness about chronic diseases. Also, the Florida health department collaborates with government agencies tasked with harnessing control in order to decrease stroke and cardiovascular ailment cases. The government agencies include the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Stout et al., 2019). The NIH and CDC have an action plan for Pembroke Pines because they recognize that there is a high prevalence rate for heart disease in Pembroke Pines. By collaborating with Broward County health officials and other partners, the two agencies and the Florida Health Department ensure that the county's public health system can adequately handle heart-related illnesses that threaten the health and well-being of Pembroke Pines residents.

A number of policies have also been developed at the local, state, and federal levels. For instance, the NIH and CDC developed an action plan to deal with heart diseases. The action framework was established in 2000 after the enactment of the Healthy People 2010 policy. The goals of the action framework are deterrence, finding, and handling of risk factors of heart attacks and strokes (CDC, 2020). The action plan has been instrumental in identifying the public health areas in Pembroke Pines that are critical towards preventing heart disease.

Other interventions that have put in place include educating Pembroke Pines’ residents on how to reduce heart disease. The county health officials collaborate with local programs in Pembroke Pines to create awareness about the need for residents to control blood pressure, stay at a healthy weight, get regular exercises, manage stress, limit alcohol and manage diabetes. These interventions have been in place in the past decade since the enactment of the Healthy People 2010 policy.

Scope and Role of Nursing and Public Health Nursing in the Interventions to Reduce the Health Issue

The scope and role of public health nursing are to integrate education in heath provision and rehabilitation programs of heart disease patients. Training provided to patients should be based on the individualized needs, attitudes, and personal beliefs of the patients. Also, education should be focused on high levels of compliance to treatment, lower levels of depression and anxiety, and increased patient satisfaction (Sanchis-Gomar, Perez-Quilis, Leischik & Lucia, 2016). Training of medical practitioners is also part of their scope because it gives them prerequisite skills to offer effective treatment.

Evidence-Based Guidelines

Evidence-based interventions for heart diseases include the use of managed care. Technology advancement has allowed the development of tools that allow nurses to manage patients remotely or while they are at home. This is an effective strategy because it reduces congestion in hospitals and also saves patients costs associated with being admitted to the hospital (Stout et al., 2019). Other evidence-based guidelines include encouraging individuals to engage in physical activities and cardiovascular rehabilitation. These are conventional interventions that can be easily accessed by most patients.

References

American Health Rankings. (2019). Explore Heart Disease in Florida | 2019 Annual Report. America's Health Rankings. https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/CHD/state/FL

CDC. (2019, May 24). Stats of the State of Florida. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/florida/florida.htm

CDC. (2020, February 7). Healthy People 2010. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people/hp2010.htm

Florida Health. (2018). Heart Disease. Florida Department of Health. https://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/heart-disease/index.html

Stout, K. K., Daniels, C. J., Aboulhosn, J. A., Bozkurt, B., Broberg, C. S., Colman, J. M., ... & Khairy, P. (2019). 2018 AHA/ACC guideline for the management of adults with congenital heart disease: executive summary: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation, 139(14), e637-e697.

Sanchis-Gomar, F., Perez-Quilis, C., Leischik, R., & Lucia, A. (2016). Epidemiology of coronary heart disease and acute coronary syndrome. Annals of Translational Medicine, 4(13).