Nowadays, there is still an urgent need to improve healthcare and make sure that morbidity and mortality rates are decreased. In order to achieve that, it is required to implement various initiatives and action plans that are aimed at both increasing the competence and skills of medical providers and making people more involved in their own health. One such national initiative is known as Million Hearts 2022 (“Million Hearts,” 2021). The purpose of this paper is to talk about this initiative, discuss taking an active role as a healthcare advocate at the federal level, and identify one tactic to advocate for the identified initiative.
To begin with, it is essential to notice that this is a rather valuable and promising initiative that is likely to bring a severe difference by preventing strokes and heart attacks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021), “every year, about 805,000 people in the United States have a heart attack” (para. 10). Therefore, the aim of the Million Hearts initiative is to prevent one million of them within five years (“Million Hearts,” 2021). As a healthcare advocate, I can educate patients about heart diseases causes and risk factors and encourage them to be more careful with their health. Moreover, I can spread awareness of the necessity of purchasing a home blood pressure monitor in order for the patients to monitor their blood pressure.
As for one tactic to advocate for the identified initiative, I choose to talk about the statistics that prove the severity of heart diseases and the necessity of the Million Hearts initiative. Few people consider risk factors and the fact that timely prevention measures are needed. Therefore, they may not recognize the value of the initiative because not everyone faces heart diseases and problems. Thus, I think that spreading awareness and educating people by comparing statistics is an effective tactic.
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Heart disease facts. CDC. Web.
Million hearts. (2021). Web.