Improving rural health: HeartSmart--an opportunity for family physician community involvement

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among adults in the United States. Evidence shows that risk factors for cardiovascular disease appearing during childhood are reliable predictors of cardiovascular illness in adulthood. An educational program to alter risk factors present in children is needed to help prevent future disease. This paper describes HeartSmart, a cross-age teaching program that was developed by a family physician in a rural location. The purpose of the program was to improve cardiovascular health knowledge of sixth-grade students.

Under supervision of the family physician, the local hospital's cardiac rehabilitation unit taught cardiovascular disease prevention principles to a group of high school seniors, who then developed and taught a cardiovascular disease prevention program to sixth-grade students. Pre- and post-testing of the sixth grader's cardiovascular health knowledge was conducted.

Sixth-grade students demonstrated improved knowledge of cardiovascular fitness principles following the program.

HeartSmart exemplifies a program developed by a family physician that can be instituted in many communities to educate children about cardiovascular fitness and disease prevention principles.