ALBANY — The American Heart Association is offering a challenge to anyone in the community who would like to accept it. The Check It! Challenge is a 4-month self-monitoring blood pressure program with monthly educational sessions for participants, designed to encourage the community to check in with their health.
The challenge began on February 1 and continues through the end of May. Each month has a corresponding theme. February began with American Heart Month and National Wear Red Day, and the relevant theme of Control Your Blood Pressure. As March is National Nutrition Month, the theme is Eating Smart and Reducing Sodium.
For April’s National Walking Day and National Minority Health Month, the health topic is Move More. With spring approaching, April’s theme centers on getting outside and walking. The challenge finishes in May with American Stroke and National High Blood Pressure Education Month and the theme of Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Almost half of adults in the United States have high blood pressure, and in New York State, 1 in 3 New Yorkers are diagnosed with high blood pressure. “Even more are unaware that they might have high blood pressure,” said Mackenzie Shorter, the community impact director for the American Heart Association in New York State. “The Check It! Challenge was one of our ways to tackle high blood pressure.”
The Heart Association is committed to reducing high blood pressure, as it surges ahead as a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke. It often has no symptoms, earning it its nickname, the Silent Killer. Community-wide, the Check It! Challenge is a way that they are looking to combat this prevalent issue.
“We want people to be aware of how prevalent high blood pressure is. A lot of people don’t even realize they have high blood pressure. With the Check It! Challenge, it’s raising awareness, and it’s raising awareness about monitoring your blood pressure at home.”
The Check It! Challenge is generally used as an employee wellness engagement tool. After filling out a registration, a Check-It Champion is identified as their site leader and main contact with the American Heart Association. The challenge can be as in-depth as the organizations want, from sharing infographics to setting up blood pressure stations and hosting lunch-and-learns.
Individuals can participate by joining the once-monthly webinars. The webinars are free to attend, with registration online at heart.org/checkitny. The hour-long webinars feature expert panelists from across New York State who will discuss the monthly theme. At the end, it’s opened up for questions and answers.
“The American Heart Association gets a lot of requests for content like this,” said Shorter. “To be able to offer something statewide for free that anybody can join.”
”Especially with the webinars where experts are brought in and where anyone can participate and listen in to the webinars, that’s why we designed this,” she continued. “It increases our reach in ways that we can get to people and meet people where they are.”
Locally, February’s American Heart Month and Go Red for Women Day had resounding success, with more than 500 people gathered at the Albany Capital Center for the Capital Region Heart Ball, the first Capital Region event of the Association’s Centennial year.
“Our mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We were able to share that mission with the 513 guests who attended,” said Katherine McCarthy, the American Heart Association’s senior director of communications for New York State.
The event raised $500,000. The American Heart Association will use these funds to further research and education programs that improve heart and brain health in the Capital Region and nationwide.
“We’re grateful to everyone who supported the Ball and contributed that evening,” said McCarthy. “These contributions help us put our mission into action through programs like the CheckIt! Challenge.”
As a part of the Heart Ball campaign, Brian O’Grady president, health plan markets for CDPHP, and the chair of the Heart Ball this year held a Healthy for Good food drive with the executive leadership team. Donations amounted to 3,000 pounds of food for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.
At the Heart Ball, the Heart Association was able to share what their statewide initiatives are. “Like the Check It! Challenge and legislation that we have tried to pass at the state level and want to pass in the coming year,” explained McCarthy. “This will bring more advocates who will help us spread the word of what we are doing and will engage with us on a local level.”
“We want everyone, everywhere, to be able to live long and healthy lives, and programs like the Check It! Challenge help do that,” she added. “Our work to change policy at the state and even federal levels makes the healthy choice the easy choice. 2024 is our Centennial year, and our Centennial motto is that our future is about improving yours. When the community can interact with us, we can make that come true.”
For registration and more information on the Check It! Challenge, visit heart.org/checkitny.
This story was featured on page 3 of the February 21, 2024 edition of The Spot518
