Baltimore City Cardiovascular Health Partnership

Healthy Hearts in Housing

On Friday, September 20, 2002, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, awarded the Partnership $450,000 to develop a community specific cardiovascular health program in Baltimore's public housing communities. The Partnership is an interagency collaborative between the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC); the Maryland Office of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Public Health Program at Morgan State University; and the Baltimore City Department of Parks and Recreation. The Housing Authority of Baltimore City is the recipient of the award and will serve as the lead agency.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for all Americans. Stroke is the third leading cause of death. Heart disease and stroke continue to be a major cause of disability and a significant contributor to increases in health care costs in the United States. Heart disease and stroke share several risk factors, including high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, high blood cholesterol and overweight. In general, the heart disease rate has been consistently higher in males than in females and higher in the African American population than in the White population. Proportionally, more African Americans die from heart disease and stroke than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. As is true nationwide, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Baltimore City. And in the health service area to which Baltimore City resides, the coronary heart disease rate is 28 percent higher than the national average. For stroke, the rate is 31 percent higher.

The goals of this innovative partnership will be met through the use of the community health worker model. Public housing residents trained as community health workers will be paid to provide individual and group education and prevention activities, in the areas of physical exercise, nutrition, smoking cessation and other areas of cardiovascular health. The residents will receive their training through the Baltimore City Community College and with plans to award certification and two college credits. This community-based strategy is the culmination of year-long planning and building relationships with the resident advisory boards, tenant councils and residents to sustain the partnership and build community capacity.

Carol Payne, Operations Specialist in the Baltimore Field Office, facilitated the development of the federal-state-local interagency partnership, by encouraging the National Institutes of Health to consider the unique opportunity to link HUD's goal of moving families toward self-sufficiency thru work opportunities and homeownership, and the Surgeon General's goals of eliminating Health Disparities and increasing the quality and years of healthy life of all Americans.

Congratulations to the Baltimore City Cardiovascular Partnership!

Content Archived: February 15, 2011