"Informing Young Women About Heart Disease and Stroke: New Media and New Approaches" and "#HeART: A Positive Youth Development Approach to Cardiovascular Disease Prevention"

Abstract

Abstract Title: Informing Young Women About Heart Disease and Stroke: New Media and New Approaches Purpose: While cardiovascular disease continues to be the greatest lifetime health risk for women in the United States, adolescents and young women are infrequently targeted in heart health prevention campaigns. To date, no studies have evaluated the cardiovascular health information sourcing habits of this population. Methods: We surveyed 331 female participants ages 15-24 years from the waiting rooms of an academic and a community-based clinical practice between September 2017 and January 2018 to describe and analyze cardiovascular information source habits and preferences. We developed linear, and logistic regression models to assess the association between participant demographics and our primary outcomes (feeling informed about heart disease and/or stroke) and our secondary outcomes (health information sources and preferences). Results: 48.5% of Adolescent and Young Adult participants rated themselves as not at all informed about heart disease and 59.0% rated themselves as not at all informed about stroke. 61.8% of respondents had never spoken to a physician about heart disease. There was a positive association between being exposed to more sources and feeling more informed about heart disease and stroke (p≤0.001 for each), while those who had not seen/heard/read anything in past 12 months rated themselves as less informed about heart disease (OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.04-0.20) and stroke (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.18-0.59). The most common sources for heart disease information in the last 12 months were television (38.2%), social media (30.3%) and the web (26.0%). Exposure to television, social media and the web were most strongly associated with feeling informed about heart disease and stroke (OR 1.67-2.79). Respondents were most likely to feel informed about heart disease and stroke if they had discussed their personal risk with a healthcare professional (OR 3.67-7.02). Conclusions: Few adolescent and young adult women feel informed about heart disease and stroke. How informed participants feel about heart disease/stroke is related to having been exposed to information about the subject in the last year, and/or physician interaction. The most preferred medium of communicating cardiovascular information to this age group is through social media. The most preferred discussion topic to engage this group is personal risk of heart disease stroke. Abstract Title: #HeART: A Positive Youth Development Approach to Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Summary: Fewer than 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults correctly identify cardiovascular disease as the most common cause of death for US adults. There is an urgent need for developmentally appropriate messages to improve awareness of heart disease and preventive behaviors in this age group. In the fall of 2018, we partnered with students and educators at Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRFHS) in Oak Park, Illinois to create #HeART, a Cardiovascular Disease prevention campaign grounded in positive youth development theory. Students were invited to use visual art or poetry to explore topics related to cardiovascular disease including risk factors and demographic disparities related to age, race, and gender. Four winning works were selected by the initiative designers after examining submissions for content, originality and tone.