Q&A talks about women and heart attack risks with Natalie Dearing, assistant professor of pharmacy practice at St. Joseph College School of Pharmacy. The School of Pharmacy has been selected to coordinate an education campaign geared toward educating women about the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and the importance of calling 9-1-1 when these symptoms arise.
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Q: The program is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health’s ‘Make the Call. Don’t Miss A Beat’ campaign. The effort will target Hartford women 55 years and older through outreach and educational seminars on heart health, including the signs and symptoms of heart attacks. Why was Hartford chosen as one of 10 sites across the country? Was it because the school pursued the program or was Hartford identified as a site first?
A: There are 10 regions within the Department of Health and Human Services. Contracts were awarded to one entity in each region,. I believe Hartford was chosen as one of the 10 sites because our School of Pharmacy enjoys a strategic location in the city of Hartford. Moreover, the School of Pharmacy faculty is well recognized by the greater Hartford community as being easily accessible, trustworthy and compassionate patient advocates. Also the demographics of Hartford make this outreach program very necessary. Heart disease is the second leading cause of death in Connecticut, with black residents suffering disproportionately compared to non-black residents. Moreover, Hartford is one of three cities within the state that has a high female minority population.
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Q: How much is the Department of Health spending on this program nationally and locally? Is St. Joseph College spending any of its own funds on the program?
A: The Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health has earmarked an estimated $2.7 million for the campaign. This figure includes funding for both national and regional initiatives. In addition, the St. Joseph College School of Pharmacy is contributing faculty time to the Hartford project.
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Q: How long will this program last? Are there quantifiable goals associated with the program?
A: Overall the campaign is two years; however our specific contract ends in November. Despite this administrative end to the contract, we hope that the healthcare providers and community patrons that we reach through this campaign will continue to raise awareness of gender differences in heart attack symptoms, severity and survival in their professional and societal circles. Additionally, we expect that our School of Pharmacy graduates will remain committed to efforts to reduce health disparities within their healthcare community. We are measuring our campaign success through surveys of knowledge gained after a variety of large and small group educational seminars for both community patrons and healthcare providers. We are also asking healthcare providers if this information about gender differences in heart attack symptoms, severity and survival will change the way they provide care to patients.
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Q: According to an American Heart Association survey, knowledge of heart attack warning signs has not appreciably improved from 1997. What can the school of pharmacy hope to achieve that others have not?
A: We hope to add to the numerous efforts already in place by promoting a unified message through inter-disciplinary collaboration with local area pharmacies and hospitals, professional organizations, community health leaders, social messaging websites, and places of worship, which we expect will broaden our access to the population of interest.
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Q: Why would a school of pharmacy attack this issue? Are pharmacists trying to position themselves as health care providers?
A: Perhaps the question is, why not? Participating in this campaign was a perfect jumping-off point for the new St. Joseph College School of Pharmacy, which welcomes its inaugural class this fall. Our faculty are extremely dedicated to community service and continue to participate in a variety of important public health programs that target underserved populations including community health fairs, events on multicultural health and healthcare disparities, and immunization clinics. Nationally, pharmacists continue to be recognized for their expertise as pharmaceutical care providers. Pharmacists are uniquely qualified to assess patients’ medication-related needs, identify patients’ medication-related problems and develop collaborative, ongoing care plans with individualized goals and personalized patient interventions. Patients will need a wide variety of health care during their life — pharmaceutical care is one of those needs.
