Women's Heart Health

Awareness event

2011-11-18T09:25:00.001-08:00

For your awareness event, find a calm garden setting. Have assorted salads available,
buffet style. Make sure all are low in saturated fat, trans fats, and cholesterol. Explain that low-stress environments and low-fat foods are good for heart health. As a reminder, hand out our Women’s Heart Health Budget-Friendly Pack.

Expose people to different high-energy styles

2011-11-18T09:20:00.001-08:00

To provide a fun way to get aerobic exercise, arrange for a series of dance classes throughout February. Expose people to different high-energy styles, such as salsa, rumba, the cha-cha-cha, and the jive. Whenever someone completes three classes, award a “Love Life, Don’t Miss A Beat” Lapel Pin, which features music notes and a woman dancing.

Health tools and information

2011-11-18T09:15:00.001-08:00

Give your employees year-round access to health tools and information by turning a cubicle into a “wellness resource center”. Place a blood pressure monitor in there, as well as a scale and printed handouts about health topics. Also have “Know Your Numbers” and “ABC’s Of Preventing Heart Disease, Heart Attack, and Stroke” Pocket Pals available. People using the wellness resource center can record their blood pressure readings and weight in the pocket pals.

Friday in February

2011-11-18T09:14:00.001-08:00

Ask women in your organization to wear red each Friday in February. Weekly, enter those who chose to participate that day in a drawing for prizes, such as “I heart To Wear Red” Hand Sanitizer. Also on Fridays, distribute facts about heart health and cardiovascular disease. At the end of the month, hold a final drawing for “I heart To Wear Red” Rhinestone T-Shirts; include people who wore red all four Fridays.

Lower Heart Disease Risk – Get Active, Stay Active

2011-06-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

The American Heart Association reports that being physically fit lowers heart disease risk even in people with other heart – health risks. However, in order to minimize your risk, you should be physically fit and avoid the other risk factors you can help to control. These include cigarette smoke, high blood cholesterol and being overweight.

The amount of exercise needed for aerobic fitness depends on your activity’s intensity. According to the American Heart Association, if you choose vigorous-intensity, you should exercise for at least 20 minutes a day, 3 days per week.

A well-balanced exercise program includes heart-pumping aerobic exercises, stretching exercises and strength-training (weight-training) exercises.

Benefits of Aerobic Exercise:

◦Burns fat
◦Strengthens your heart
◦Builds muscle
◦Improves mental state
◦Reduces risk for a variety medical conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis
◦Lowers blood pressure

Benefits of Stretching Exercise:

◦Increases circulation
◦Improves posture
◦Decreases muscle soreness
◦Decreases risk of injury
◦Increases flexibility

Benefits of Strength – Training Exercise:

◦Burns calories
◦Increases bone density
◦Builds muscle
◦Tones body
◦Decreases risk of injury
◦Reduces arthritic pain
◦Improves balance

GET STARTED: If you don’t currently exercise, start with 10 minutes a day. Gradually work up to 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity aerobic exercise 5 days of the week. You can break this into shorter, more frequent time frames if that works better for you, but no less than 10 minutes at a time. Strength – training should be done twice a week. Stretches can be incorporated into a daily exercise routine or done in 15 minute sessions, 2 or 3 times a week.

KEEP UP THE PACE. Pick activities that you enjoy so you don’t get bored and quit. Vary your routine. Find a buddy to join you. If someone is waiting, you are less likely to skip on a workout.

WARM UP AND COOL DOWN. Start your exercise routine with 5 minutes of slow movement to warm up your muscles. Stretching before you are warmed up can lead to injury. Take another 5 minutes at the end of your workout to cool down and slow your heart rate. Do not count the warm-up and cool-down minutes as part of your 30 minutes.

Word Power

2010-11-30T12:08:00.002-08:00

Word puzzles are great for the brain. During February, create some that are good for the heart! Design a crossword puzzle that features heart-health related words and phrases as the answers. (For assistance in building the crossword, go to www.puzzle-maker.com.) Also make a fill-in-the-blank puzzle in which you write tips for a healthy heart and leave out certain words, such as “Choose foods low in saturated ___, trans fats, and cholesterol.” Distribute the puzzles along with “Take Your Health To Heart” Comfort Grip Pens. When someone turns in correctly
completed puzzles, use a “A Woman’s Heart Is A Work
Of Art” Red Coin Purse as a reward.

T-rrific Activity

2010-11-30T12:08:00.001-08:00

Outfit your department with “Love Life...Don’t Miss A Beat” T-Shirts. Request that they be worn on a certain day each week during American Heart Month to raise awareness. Hopefully the shirts will be conversation starters. Supply your t-shirt wearers with “I ™ My Heart” Lapel Pins to give out to anyone who asks them about their apparel.

Nutritional Superstars

2010-11-30T12:07:00.002-08:00

Make it easier for the men and women at your organization to eat with heart health in mind. Hand out “50 Heart-Healthy Superfoods” Bookmarks. Each day of American Heart Month, choose a superfood from the bookmark. Compose suggestions for ways of preparing that item. (Many great articles about this topic are online.) Send these tips out via email. You won’t get through all 50 foods in February, so pick those that might be less common to people. Throughout the month, hold drawings for “Cooking For The Heart” Cookbooks.

Lifesaving Display

2010-11-30T12:07:00.001-08:00

Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are America’s #1 killer. Being informed can make the difference between life and death. Assemble an educational display about strokes. On it, explain how the risk of having a stroke can be reduced. Also list the symptoms and what to do if someone is experiencing a stroke. Draw women over to your display with free emery boards from the Emery Board Assortment Pack. While they’re there, present them with “ABCs Of Preventing Heart Disease, Heart Attack, And Stroke” Pocket Pals.

Hot Topic

2010-11-30T12:06:00.002-08:00

Cholesterol seems to be in the news often, but isn’t always adequately explained. Invite professionals to come and shed some light on the subject by leading a class. Ask them to tell what cholesterol is, where it comes from, and how levels can be managed. In addition, have them address the pros and cons of cholesterol-lowering medications. Give all attendees “6 Steps To
A Healthy Heart” Bookmarks; they feature recommendations on cholesterol testing. Also hand out Healthy Heart Nutrition & Fitness Guides For Women, which have information about controlling cholesterol through diet and exercise.

Recipe Sharing

2010-11-30T12:06:00.001-08:00

For National Woman’s Heart Day, hold a luncheon in which you recruit volunteers to prepare heart-healthy dishes. Have your cooks bring you the recipes they used in addition to the actual entrees. Photocopy the recipes and make them available for anyone at the luncheon who wants them. Distribute “Smart Shopping For A Healthy Heart” Pocket Pals and “Top 10 Heart-Healthy Cooking Tips” E-Z Stick Glancers so guests have helpful suggestions they can use in their everyday lives.

Drawing Them In

2009-11-24T06:56:00.003-08:00

Boost attendance to your heart-health booth or event by offering a useful and attention-getting giveaway. Fill Heart-Shaped Balloons with helium. Tie a string to each balloon. Then tie each balloon to a “Love Life...Don’t Miss A Beat!” Contour Grip Translucent Water Bottle. Fill the bottles with filtered water before giving out. The bottles will make it easy for people to keep a healthy beverage handy and hopefully will cut down on the amount of disposable plastic bottles ending up in the landfill.

Women’s Wellness

2009-11-24T06:56:00.001-08:00

For American Heart Month, declare that Wednesdays will be Wellness Wednesdays. Each of these days, conduct a short lesson on nutrition, then lead attendees on a 15-minute walk (indoors if necessary). The first Wednesday, distribute “Taking Steps For A Healthy Heart” Heart-Shaped Pedometers so women can track their walking. On the other Wednesdays, hand out items from the Deluxe Awareness Assortment.

Vital Numbers

2009-11-24T06:55:00.003-08:00

One of the risk factors for heart disease is high blood pressure. Since this condition often shows no warning signs or symptoms, help the women at your facility know where they stand by organizing a clinic. Along with testing, offer tips on controlling blood pressure. Whenever someone receives a blood pressure reading, hand her a “Know Your Numbers” Journal to record the results in. Also give her a raffle ticket for a chance to win one of the gifts in the Women’s Heart-Health Awareness Event Raffle Kit.

Growing Knowledge

2009-11-24T06:55:00.001-08:00

Begin February with a quiz on heart health. Gauge what people know without being allowed to look up the answers on the Internet. Use “Live Smart...Love Your Heart” Lapel Pins to reward everyone who participates. Award an Embroidered Microfleece Blanket to the person with the highest score, but don’t reveal the correct answers to your group. Post heart-health information on bulletin boards around your building. At the end of February, give the quiz again to see if your displays were effective.

Many Avenues

2009-11-24T06:54:00.002-08:00

In this day and age, numerous ways of broadcasting an awareness message exist. Write an article about National Woman’s Heart Day for your monthly newsletter. Then place baskets of “Make Every Beat Count” Butter Mints throughout the facility. Post heart-health information on your organization’s Web site. Also send out e-mails. In the e-mails, give the recipients a place to go to pick up a special gift. Have “Love Your Heart” Bookmarks waiting for them at the location. If a church group is your audience, use the Sunday bulletin as yet another form of communication.

Lunchtime Learning

2009-11-24T06:54:00.001-08:00

Hold a midday seminar about how bringing food from home can be a great way to eat with heart health in mind. Request that people RSVP for the event so you can plan lunch. Have your dining services or volunteers make one of the recipes from the Heart-Healthy Brown Bag Lunches Pocket Pal. Put Pocket Pals at each place setting. Serve the food in “Love Life...Don’t Miss A Beat!” Deluxe Lunch Bags, a reusable alternative to brown bags. As guests enjoy their meal, discuss nutritious items that can be easily transported.

Influential Meal

2008-11-19T07:21:00.002-08:00

Spread your heart-health message even further by reaching out to community leaders. Invite county and city officials, school administrators and clergy members to breakfast. Right before the event, place heart stickers on the underside of a few chairs. Serve heart-healthy foods, such as fruit, whole-grain muffins and juice, while skipping the fat-laden donuts and bacon. Have medical professionals speak about heart disease, especially in women. Give “Take Your Health To Heart” Red Awareness Pens to all attendees as reminders of the topic. Award “Make Every Beat Count” Insulated Travel Mugs to the people sitting in the chairs with stickers.

Successful Slimming

2008-11-19T07:21:00.001-08:00

Extra body weight puts a strain on the heart. Create a “Lose Weight To Win Big” weight-loss contest. Organize contestants into teams for moral support. Collect a participation fee. Start everyone off with “Healthy Heart Nutrition And Fitness” Guides. Hold weekly weigh-ins to monitor progress. Four weeks into an eight-week program, reward participants with Translucent Water Bottles. At the end, use the collected fees as monetary prizes for top teams and individuals.

A Cart For The Heart

2008-11-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

Surprise female employees by personally bringing heart-health materials to them. Stock up on “Heart Smarts For Women” Slideguides, “Be Smart For Your Heart” Women’s Heart-Health Pocket Pals and “50 Heart-Healthy Snacks” Glancers. Also gather printed information about any wellness and employee assistance programs your company offers. Place everything on a cart. Push the cart around,stopping at each employee’s desk to make a delivery. If someone isn’t there, come back later when she is to ensure you get face-to-face contact.

Moving Motivation

2008-11-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

Arrange for a fitness expert to visit and inspire women in your organization to become physically fit. Choose a local or national celebrity, maybe one who has written an exercise book or starred in a workout DVD. Allow time for your guest to give a motivational speech, as well as teach some fitness basics. Have Heart-Shaped Pedometers for him or her to pass out. Afterwards, distribute “Eating & Exercising For A Healthy Heart” Handbooks.

Lesson To Learn

2008-11-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

CPR can mean the difference between life and death. Sponsor a CPR class to empower the women around you to save lives. In addition to the CPR training, ask the instructor to detail heart attack symptoms, since women have more unrecognized heart attacks than men. Hand out “Warning Signs Of A Heart Attack & CPR For Heart Attack Victims” Wallet Cards. Use “Bless Your Heart” Lapel Pins to thank everyone, including the instructor, for their presence.

Subduing Stress

2008-11-19T07:17:00.000-08:00

Stress may contribute to high blood pressure, chest pains, high cholesterol levels, irregular heart beats and even heart disease. The good news is that some of the ways to reduce stress, such as eating and drinking sensibly as well as exercising, are directly good for the heart too. With this in mind, offer a stress management seminar. At the seminar,discuss causes and symptoms of stress, along with stress relief techniques. Include somestress-reducing activities in the event. Set out “101 Ways To Manage Stress For A Healthy Heart” Bookmarks as reinforcement of what was taught.