Penn Medicine Princeton Health has forged a yearlong partnership with the American Heart Association that will be highlighted by CEO James Demetriades serving as Chair of the annual Central Jersey Heart Walk in October.
In the months leading up to the Heart Walk, Princeton Health will hold a series of events and educational programs designed to raise community members’ heart health awareness and literacy.
“Optimal health starts with your heart,” Demetriades said. “At Princeton Health, we focused in recent years on developing our capabilities related to diagnosing and treating cardiovascular disease. Yet we know that prevention is the most effective cure, so we established a central theme, Keeping Hearts Healthy, that we will amplify all year through the efforts of our comprehensive Community Wellness program.”
Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States since 1950, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It remains the leading cause of death for men and women, as well as people of most racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Princeton Health Community Wellness provides hundreds of educational programs each year related to heart disease and risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes. Community Wellness offers instruction on the warning signs of heart attacks and strokes and how to prevent them, as well as training for professionals and community members in lifesaving skills such as CPR.
While Keeping Hearts Healthy is the year’s primary theme, Community Wellness will also organize events designed to raise awareness and increase engagement with community members related to three individual heart health campaigns:
- Eat Smart.
- Move More.
- Stomp Out Stress.
The Central Jersey Heart Walk is scheduled for October 28 in Skillman Park, Skillman, N.J.
Visit www.princetonhcs.org/hearts to learn more.