Leveraging Multimedia Patient Engagement to Address Minority Cerebrovascular Health Needs: Prospective Observational...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Environmental Health
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Social inequities exacerbated by Hurricane Katrina and Harvey disproportionately impacted minority populations, increasing stroke prevalence.
• Environmental justice literature expanded due to these disparities.
• The Stomp Out Stroke initiative aimed to mitigate these effects through community engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address social inequities in cerebrovascular health.
• Identify race- or ethnicity-specific health needs.
• Provide in-person stroke prevention screenings to at-risk minority populations.

Main Methods:

• Recruitment via internet-based channels (websites, social media).
• Online registration capturing sociodemographics, family history, and stroke survivorship.
• Comparison of participant health interests by race/ethnicity using statistical tests (Kruskal-Wallis, chi-square) with Bonferroni correction.

Main Results:

• 1401 participants, majority female, identifying as minority (Hispanic, African American, Asian).
• Significant differences in insurance status, screening uptake, and education requests among racial/ethnic groups.
• 2774 health screenings (blood pressure, stroke risk, etc.) completed, reaching ~849,731 people via multimedia engagement.

Conclusions:

• The Stomp Out Stroke protocol effectively identified and addressed race/ethnicity-specific health needs in at-risk minority populations.
• Internet-based recruitment combined with in-person assessments proved successful.
• The model is replicable in other Southern US Stroke Belt cities facing similar flood risks and health disparities.