Blood pressure monitoring, additional health tools enhance access to community health hub in New Orleans
The American Heart Association in Greater New Orleans, along with local community collaborators from the Strategic Wellness Initiative, recently enhanced the offerings of the I Deserve It! Wellness Hub at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center by providing resources that will enable local residents to access a variety of free health resources and education in a single location that includes:
- A self-monitoring blood pressure center with blood pressure devices, instructions on how to use them accurately, educational materials and a list of community health centers and health care professionals;
- A CPR training and education session for staff and volunteers to help build a Nation of Lifesavers,
- An AED (automated external defibrillator) on location; and
- A Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP), which establishes the specific steps to reduce death from cardiac arrest in any setting.
"We are thrilled to be collaborating with the American Heart Association in Greater New Orleans to further build the capacity of this multifaceted wellness hub at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center for our community members," said Avis Gray, RN, BSN, Community Health Director, Ashé Cultural Arts Center. "This hub will deliver essential health care resources directly to communities by removing transportation barriers and expanding access to life-saving resources and education."
I Deserve It! is a collaborative effort among the American Heart Association, Ashé Cultural Arts Center and New Orleans East Hospital, along with the New Orleans Health Department, Metropolitan Human Services District and Tulane School of Medicine. Together, they are working to bring about a paradigm shift that illuminates and solves for the 25-year difference in life expectancy experienced by New Orleans' majority Black neighborhoods.
The wellness hub will provide ongoing free health screenings and testing every Wednesday, Friday and the second Saturday each month. Through additional collaboration with the Ashé Cultural Arts Center and LCMC Health, we will help address numerous key health issues that face the New Orleans community:
Hypertension, which is a serious health issue in the United States with nearly half of Americans ages 20 years and up—or more than 122 million people—having some form of high blood pressure. The second leading cause of preventable death, high blood pressure is projected to cost more than $200 billion annually in direct and indirect expenses by 2035.
Secondarily, with more than 350,0000 people experiencing cardiac arrests outside of a hospital, including 23,000 children, CPR is a critical skill that kids as young as 9 years old can learn. By providing reusable and sustainable CPR Anytime Kits to the Center, an AED, and implementing a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP), building a Nation of Lifesavers is easier than ever. Now, more of our residents will be able to be trained in critical CPR skills to potentially save lives.
"We are relentlessly focused on improving the health of our New Orleans area residents," said Coretta LaGarde, executive director, American Heart Association, Greater New Orleans. "Hypertension rates play a large role in life expectancy, as does healthy food access. Having a CERP in place, an AED on hand, and knowing CPR, or Hands-Only CPR, are critical skills and plans to have in place. And it is through initiatives such as this that we can truly bring a significant impact to our local community."
Provided by American Heart Association
