Mitigating Risk — Cardiac Health Assessment for the Men/Ms. of Passaic County (MR CHAMMP)

St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center
Paterson, N.J.

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MR CHAMMP, Mitigating Risk — Cardiac Health Assessment for the Men/Ms. of Passaic County, at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center (SJRMC) in Paterson, N.J., was created with the purpose of developing and sustaining a community-based screening, education and access to care hypertension program for all people in the Paterson, N.J. area. Special emphasis has been on minority populations.

It has been selected to receive the 2011 Disparities Leadership Program Award for Best Overall Project from The Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. MR CHAMMP is one of only two 2 teams from 16 health care organizations from around the United States to be selected for this award from Disparities Leadership Program 2010-2011. The award is based on various criteria, including the breadth of impact of the project on the organization, use of Disparities Leadership Program tools and skills, and overall achievements during the course of the year.

Various methods have been used for growth of the program including weekly community outreach programs, identifying urban populations who may be at risk for hypertension, and training site specific key community leaders. These leaders are trained to screen, educate and direct patients to cultural, language and ethnic specific medical care, as well as to develop and operate independent ongoing educational, screening and follow-up blood pressure measurement programs conducted at community sites.

From October 2009 to February 2011, MR CHAMMP sponsored 67 programs which were provided to the community. The outreaches led to the establishment of 6 cultural, language and ethnic specific independent follow-up sites. A total of 2,086 people have been educated about hypertension and 1,759 people have been screened.

Additional successes of MR CHAMMP include development of introduction packets in both English and Spanish, incorporation of the program into the pre-existing Women's Heart Center and Men's Heart Health Center at St. Joseph's Healthcare System, a focus group meeting of key community leaders and the utilization of an American Heart Association summer intern.

For additional information on the St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center MR CHAMMP Program call (973) 754-2484.