The "Story Behind the Curve" helps us understand why the data on heart disease is the way that it is in our community. When we understand the root causes of our community problems, we have a better chance of finding the right solutions, together.

What's Helping? These are the positive forces are work in our community and beyond that influence this issue in our community.

• Many programs in place to support heart health
• Collaboration between local agencies and organizations
• Developing a "culture of health"
• Free opportunities available for blood pressure checks and health screenings throughout the year

Health department staff show the importance of "Knowing Your Numbers"

What's Hurting? These are the negative forces are work in our community and beyond that influence this issue in our community.

• Not many environmental supports in place to support an active lifestyle
• Fast food restaurant density
• High perceived cost of healthy food
• High cost of managing this disease
• 1 in 4 residents live in poverty
• Interaction between poverty and chronic disease-- disease burden is higher in the poor and the poor have decreased access to health services

Partners in our Community Health Improvement Process:

• Jackson County Department of Public Health
• Area Agency on Aging
• Good Samaritan Clinic
• Harris Regional Hospital
• Jackson County Department on Aging
• Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department
• Jackson County Public Schools
• Jackson County Department of Social Services
• Mountain Projects, Inc.
• Smoky Mountain LME/MCO
• Western Carolina University
• WNC Healthy Impact

Partners With a Role in Helping Our Community Do Better on This Issue:

• MountainWise
• Local businesses
• Local government (County and city)
• Healthcare providers
• Local restaurants
• Fitness centers
• Grocery stores and food retail outlets

We are keeping an eye on weight status, diabetes prevalence, heart disease mortality, and colorectal cancer mortality as a way of telling how we are doing as a community in addressing chronic disease and build a community where all Jackson County residents are free from injury. We have also identified other data that is not currently available, but that we would like to develop to help us monitor progress on this result:

• Access to care data
• Chronic disease management data
• Less self-reported data and more clinically-gathered data on weight status

The following actions have been identified as ideas for what can work for our community to make a difference on heart disease.

(A) Actions and Approaches Identified by Our Partners These are actions and approaches that our partners think can make a difference on heart disease.

• Media campaigns like Million Hearts
• Educational opportunities to increase awareness
• Free screenings
• Blood pressure checks

(B) What is Currently Working in Our Community These are actions and approaches that are currently in place in our community to make a difference on heart disease.

• Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke Prevention Grant
• Stroke risk screening
• Worksite wellness programs
• Living Healthy: Chronic Disease Self-Management
• Tuesdays to Thrive
• Annual Healthy Living Festival
• Outreach at various community sites for blood pressure screenings
• Freshstart

(C) Evidence-Based Strategies These are actions and approaches that have been shown to make a difference on heart disease.

• Use a team-based approach to control blood pressure, cholesterol, and relevant risk factors
• Reduce sodium consumption by promoting the adoption of procurement policies and practices that limit sodium intake; promoting the availability of lower-sodium food options; and promoting the expansion of consumer information labeling initiatives that include sodium
• Increase adherence of medical providers to clinical guidelines by providing training on the accurate methods to take blood pressure measurement
• Improve blood pressure control through promotion of Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring, combined with additional support