Sharon Cooksey | Summer_2017_27465

NOVANT HEALTH & WOMENS HEART DISEASE

This isnt just a mans disease anymore.

Womens heart disease is a grave public issue, the leading cause of death in American

women. (CDC, 2016) American women continue to die of heart disease and stroke at a rate

unparalleled by other diseases. (Mosca, Mochari-Greenberger, Dolor, Newby, & Robb, 2010)

It will cause one in every three female deaths, or kill one woman every minute in the United

States. (AHA, 2017)

Yet low awareness exists of this killer. Just 54% of women identify heart disease as the

number 1 killer. (CDC, 2016) The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2016) stated that,

while the same number of men and women die each year from heart disease, the public sees this

as a mans disease.

Among women, heart disease is an equal opportunity killer, impacting all ethnicities and

races. In the United States, it is the leading cause of death for Caucasian and African American

women; equal to cancer with Hispanic women; and second only to cancer in American Indian

and Pacific Islander women. (CDC, 2016) Almost 64% of women die suddenly, without ever

experiencing previous symptoms. (CDC, 2016) Education WILL save many lives.

Targets

While heart disease awareness is improving, younger women are at risk. Compared with

older women, younger women were more likely to report not discussing heart disease risk with

their doctors (6 percent among those 25-34 versus 33 percent for those 65 and older). (AHA,

2013)

Racial minorities also experience low awareness. (Mosca, Mochari-Greenberger, Dolor,

Newby, & Robb, 2010) The divide is deep and experts advise, Educational efforts to increase

heart disease and stroke awareness should be targeted to racial/ethnic minorities, especially

Hispanics. (Christian, Rosamond, White, & Mosca, 2007)

 Sharon Cooksey | Summer_2017_27465

The Opportunity

Our mission statement reads, Novant Health exists to improve the health of our

communities, one person at a time. (Novant Health, 2017) Community Involvement in North

Carolina is important to us, we have received industry awards for our programs including health

fairs and disease prevention services.

Although North Carolina was awarded Americas Health Rankings (Schupak, 2015) title

of Most Improved State, this was primarily based on immunizations improvements. (Schupak,

2015) North Carolina ranks nationally at number 30 for total cardiac deaths; it also holds

number 28 for obesity and number 33 for smoking, leading causes of heart disease (America's

Heath Ratings, 2016)

In North Carolina, there are 4,889,991 females (US Census Bureau, 2015) and female

cardiac death averages are 208.1 per 100,000 population. (America's Heath Ratings, 2016)

Target breakdowns (Suburban Stats, 2017) include 625,000 females between the ages of 25-34,

1,089,725 African-American females, and 372,385 Hispanic females; all underserved for cardiac

awareness. (AHA, 2013)

The Plan

These factors make the development and execution of a marketing communications

campaign focused on womens heart health a fantastic opportunity for fulfilling our mission. We

can achieve this by developing tactics targeted towards the most vulnerable groups: Younger

females, ages 25-34; Hispanic women, all ages; and African-American woman, all ages.

Development of these tactics would include cultural sensitivities, including the use of bi-

lingual text, particularly for targeted minority groups. Activations would include community

initiatives such as health fairs and free neighborhood clinics, online videos detailing the signs of

heart disease, and easy-to-navigate informational websites written in simple-English and

Spanish. We will also target pre-natal care units to generate early awareness. If the initiative is

successful we may want to consider a secondary campaign targeted to men fathers, husbands,

sons who take care of the females in their lives.

 Sharon Cooksey | Summer_2017_27465

Novant Health stands to make a real impact in its communities by saving the lives of

mothers, daughters, grandmothers and more through heart health education including female-

specific risks, signs, and symptoms. This isnt just a mans disease anymore.
 Sharon Cooksey | Summer_2017_27465

REFERENCES
AHA. (2013, February 19). Womens Heart Disease Awareness Study (2012). Retrieved from
American Heart Association: https://www.goredforwomen.org/about-heart-
disease/facts_about_heart_disease_in_women-sub-category/womens-heart-disease-awareness-
study-2012/

AHA. (2017). Facts About Heart Disease in Women. Retrieved from American Heart
Association: https://www.goredforwomen.org/fight-heart-disease-women-go-red-women-
official-site/about-heart-disease-in-women/facts-about-heart-disease/

America's Heath Ratings. (2016). North Carolina. Retrieved from America's Health Rankings:
http://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/2016-annual-report/measure/Smoking/state/NC

CDC. (2016, June 26). Women and Heart Disease Fact Sheet. Retrieved from Center For
Disease Control and Prevention:
https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_women_heart.htm

CDC. (2016). Women and Heart Disease Fact Sheet . Retrieved from Center for Disease Control
and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/docs/fs_women_heart.pdf

Christian, A. H., Rosamond, W., White, A. R., & Mosca, L. (2007). Nine-Year Trends And
Racial And Ethnic Disparities in Women's Awareness of Heart Disease And Stroke: An
American Heart Association National Study. Journal of Women's Health, 68-81. Retrieved from
Nine-Year Trends And Racial And Ethnic Disparities in Women's Awareness of Heart Disease
And Stroke: An American Heart Association National Study

Mosca, L. M., Mochari-Greenberger, H. M., Dolor, R. J., Newby, L. K., & Robb, M. K. (2010).
Twelve-Year Follow-Up of American Womens Awareness of Cardiovascular Disease Risk and
Barriers to Heart Health. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes.

Novant Health. (2017). Mission, vision & values. Retrieved from Novant Health:
https://www.novanthealth.org/home/about-us/mission-vision--values.aspx

Schupak, A. (2015, December 18). The 10 healthiest and least healthy states in the US.
Retrieved from Fox News Health: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/12/18/10-healthiest-
and-least-healthy-states-in-us.html
 Sharon Cooksey | Summer_2017_27465

Suburban Stats. (2017). North Carolina. Retrieved from Suburban Stats:

https://suburbanstats.org/population/how-many-people-live-in-north-carolina

US Census Bureau. (2015). North Carolina. Retrieved from United States Census Bureau:
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045216/37