Timely, Quality Care with AHA There

We hear all the time that elected leaders value the American Heart Association's efforts to pass heart healthy policies in our state and nation - a result of decades of service from committed volunteers, the solid-science supporting the AHA's policy positions and the critical work the AHA performs in diverse communities every day. Through the Get With The Guidelines® program, the AHA works closely with hospital professionals to improve heart disease and stroke patient care utilizing the most recent scientific guidelines. In fact, over 2.2 million Heart and Stroke patients have benefitted from Get With The Guidelines®!

Legislators need to become aware of this important work so they may fully understand the impact of the association's mission and appreciate the expertise the AHA may bring to important issues associated with delivering timely, quality healthcare.

Follow the link below to contact your legislator about the American Heart Association's efforts to improve care in your community:

Timely, Quality Care in Illinois

Lawmakers are confronted with making very tough decisions these days and they are looking for solid partners to craft smart solutions. The more leaders learn about the ground-breaking work the AHA is performing to improve patient outcomes, the more they will go to the AHA as a partner in identifying solutions to today's challenges. Sending your message today can make a real difference:

Timely, Quality Care in Illinois

We encourage you to learn more about the Get With The Guidelines® program of the American Heart Association.

Check-out which hospitals in your area are successfully using this program.

As always, we thank you for your active voice as a member of the You're the Cure grassroots network. We can't spell CURE, without "U".

Reading Food Nutrition Labels

Learning how to read and understand food labels can help you make healthier choices. Here are some tips for making the most of the information on the Nutrition Facts label:


Start here. Note the size of a single serving and how many servings are in the package.


Check total calories per serving. Look at the serving size and how many servings you’re really consuming. If you double the servings you eat, you double the calories and nutrients, including the Percent Daily Value (% DV).

Limit these nutrients. Remember, you need to limit your total fat to no more than 56–78 grams a day — including no more than 16 grams of saturated fat, less than two grams of trans fat, and less than 300 mg cholesterol (for a 2,000 calorie diet).

Get enough of these nutrients. Make sure you get 100 percent of the fiber, vitamins and other nutrients you need every day.

Quick guide to % DV. The % DV section tells you the percent of each nutrient in a single serving, in terms of the daily recommended amount. As a guide, if you want to consume less of a nutrient (such as saturated fat, cholesterol or sodium), choose foods with a lower % DV — 5 percent or less is low. If you want to consume more of a nutrient (such as fiber), seek foods with a higher % DV — 20 percent or more is high.

Here are more tips for getting as much health information as possible from the Nutrition Facts label:

-Remember that the information shown in these panels is based on 2,000 calories a day. You may need to consume less or more than 2,000 calories depending upon your age, gender, activity level, and whether you’re trying to lose, gain or maintain your weight. Find out your personal daily limits on My Fats Translator.

-In general, as you think about the amount of calories in a food per serving, remember that for a 2,000-calorie diet:
40 calories per serving is considered low;
100 calories per serving is considered moderate; and
400 calories or more per serving is considered high.

-There is no % DV shown for trans fat on the panel because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have enough scientific information to set this value. We recommend eating less than 20 calories or (less than two grams of trans fat) a day – that’s less than 1 percent of your total daily calories (for a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet).

-When the Nutrition Facts panel says the food contains “0 g” of trans fat, it means the food contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.

-When the Nutrition Facts label says a food contains “0 g” of trans fat, but includes “partially hydrogenated oil” in the ingredient list, it means the food contains trans fat, but less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. So, if you eat more than one serving, you could quickly reach your daily limit of trans fat.

In addition to the Nutrition Facts label, a lot of foods today also come with nutrient content claims provided by the manufacturer. These claims are typically featured in ads for the foods or in the promotional copy on the food packages themselves. They are strictly defined by the FDA.

The chart below provides some of the most commonly used nutrient content claims, along with a detailed description of what the claim means.

If you can’t remember the definitions of all of the terms, don’t worry. You can use these general guidelines instead:

“Free” means a food has the least possible amount of the specified nutrient.
“Very Low” and “Low” means the food has a little more than foods labeled “Free.”
“Reduced” or “Less” mean the food has 25 percent less of a specific nutrient than the regular version of the food.

New Website Educates Public on Healthcare Laws

As health care reform implementation moves forward, there are a number of new rules, programs, and resources rolling out that heart disease and stroke patients need to be informed about. A new insurance program created by the Affordable Care Act, called Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans, begins in many states starting July 1st. While the exact terms and conditions of the coverage will vary by state, this is an important option for uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions to explore. And to help consumers explore and better understand their health insurance options, both private and public, the Department of Health and Human Services is also launching their new consumer website, healthcare.gov, on July 1st. This site will be a valuable resource to all Americans looking to determine what the new health care law means to them. Below are some sample social media messages to help spread the word.

FACEBOOK POSTS-
Pre-Ex Plan Launch- link to http://yourethecure.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-health-insurance-resources-launch.html

Today marks the beginning of a more affordable health care coverage option for uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions. Learn more about these new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans today.

Are you or a loved one uninsured and been denied insurance because of a pre-existing medical condition? If so, you may be eligible for a new program intended to make health care coverage affordable to you. Learn more …
Web Portal Launch- link to www.healthcare.gov

Be an informed health insurance consumer. Visit the Department of Health and Human Services’ new site to learn about your options and protections under the new health care reform law.

Today, healthcare.gov launched to help provide consumers with the information they need to better understand their health care coverage options. Visit the site today to learn what the new health care reform law means for you.

As a heart disease or stroke survivor, navigating your health care insurance options can be challenging. But a new online resource from the Dept. of Health and Human Services aims to make identifying your options easier. Check it out today!

Wondering what the new health care reform laws mean for you? Check out the Department of Health and Human Services’ new website for more information about the public and private health insurance programs and plans that may be available to you.

TWITTER “TWEETS”
Pre-existing condition insurance plans will help uninsured heart disease and stroke patients attain health coverage. www.healthcare.gov

AHA encourages heart disease and stroke patients to take advantage of Pre-existing condition insurance plans. www.healthcare.gov

New insurance program provides temporary relief for uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions www.healthcare.gov

@HHSGov launches www.healthcare.gov aimed at providing helpful tools and resources to consumers

New @HHSGov health reform website will help consumers find options for insurance coverage- www.healthcare.gov

Take the AHA’s online Healthy Kids Quiz and join our fight for healthier kids today!

Do you know how many kids are struggling with childhood obesity in the U.S.? Or what percentage of schools provide physical education? I think you’ll be shocked to learn the answers.

Take the AHA’s online Healthy Kids Quiz to test your knowledge about the health of our kids and to learn what you can do to make a difference: http://healthykidquiz.heart.org/quiz/Quiz.html

Right now, Congress is working on the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization, which is a big opportunity to improve nutrition and physical activity in our nation’s schools. So, we must do our part to urge our legislators to act now and make the health of our kids a priority.

Take the quiz at http://healthykidquiz.heart.org/quiz/Quiz.html, learn the facts, and help join the AHA’s fight for healthier kids today!

Share this post with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, here are some suggested posts:

Facebook: link to http://healthykidquiz.heart.org/quiz/Quiz.html
Do you know how many kids are considered obese in the U.S.? Or what percentage of schools provide daily physical education? Test your knowledge by taking the AHA’s Healthy Kids Quiz!

Knowledge is power! Take the AHA’s online Healthy Kids Quiz and join our fight for healthier kids today!

In just two minutes, you can find out how much you know about our kids’ health and what you can do to make a difference. Take the AHA’s Healthy Kids Quiz today!

Proper nutrition and regular physical education for our kids at school? Yes, please! Take the AHA’s Healthy Kids Quiz to learn more and to join our fight for healthier kids!

Twitter: link to http://bit.ly/anTINg

Knowledge is power! Take the AHA’s online Healthy Kids Quiz and join the fight for healthier kids today! http://bit.ly/anTINg

How much you know about our kids’ health and what you can do to make a difference? Take the AHA’s Healthy Kids Quiz! http://bit.ly/anTINg

Check out this great AHA quiz to test your knowledge about the health of our kids! http://bit.ly/anTINg

Lend Your Voice to CPR & AED Awareness in June!

The sad truth is most people don’t survive a cardiac arrest. Getting people to act quickly in a cardiac arrest emergency is critical to a victim’s survival because time is not on their side. Four to six minutes is the window of opportunity for someone to act before it is too late, but fewer than one-third of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from someone nearby.

The American Heart Association wants more people to take action and help cardiac arrest victims. That’s why we’re challenging 1 million people to learn about CPR during National CPR & AED Awareness Week, June 1-7. by learning about Hands-Only CPR, playing Be the Beat to learn the correct rate of CPR compressions, or recording your CPR & AED training or the training you gave someone else.

Explore the site and be sure to get counted every time you train or train someone else. The counter will stay open throughout May and June, so don’t stop! Every training helps us create safer communities and save lives.

Here's some social media messages you can post to your Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts to help spread the word:

Twitter:
The Amer Heart Assoc wants a million people to learn about CPR during #cprweek June 1-7. Find out how at www.cprweek.org
It’s #cprweek. Be one of a million. Take a class, watch a video, or play an online game to learn more about CPR and AEDs. www.cprweek.org
Learn about CPR and log your experiences at www.cprweek.org. Our goal is to get a million people educated about CPR and AEDs. #cprweek
More than 92% of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital die from it. But you can help. #cprweek June 1-7. www.cprweek.org

Facebook:

· The American Heart Association wants one million teens and adults to learn about cardiopulmonary resuscitation during CPR Week, June 1-7. Our goal is to increase awareness about CPR and automated external defibrillator (AEDs) so that people will know what to do if someone suddenly collapses from cardiac arrest.

LINK TO: www.cprweek.org

· It’s CPR Week! We’ve made learning the basics of CPR and how to use an AED fun and entertaining through interactive games, music and videos. Take an action and get counted toward our goal of getting 1 million teens and adults to learn about CPR.

LINK TO: www.cprweek.org

· Take a class, watch a Hands-Only demonstration video, play our “Be the Beat” game or train on a CPR Anytime kit. Once you have learned about CPR, log your experience online! A real-time heat map will track the number of people who have taken action in communities nationwide.

LINK TO: www.cprweek.org

General Post for Tuesday, June 1:

· CPR Week starts today! Our goal is to get a million teens and adults to learn about cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Will you help? Learn about CPR and log your activities online!

LINK: www.cprweek.org