Area educators focus heart health curriculum on prevention

Just as the health care community focuses on preventative measures, regional colleges and universities have taken note. Future clinical providers are preparing for their careers in medicine by gearing their studies toward a proactive approach.

Brown Mackie College offers the medical assisting and practical nursing programs with teachings devoted to heart health topics. Specifically, both the anatomy and physiology courses include a whole unit devoted to abnormal and normal heart functions. Instructors focus on what causes cardiovascular abnormalities and what can happen when these abnormalities occur such as high cholesterol, which may lead to blockages and problems like heart attacks or strokes.

Susan Zolvinski, of Brown Mackie College — Michigan City, said curriculum geared toward basic knowledge of healthy lifestyle choices like a balanced diet, moderate exercise and quitting smoking teach future graduates about prevention.

"We learned these are preventative to any heart condition or problem. We teach these before we see the problems like clogged arteries. We are getting the patient informed about healthy choices — knowing what they are and that they can make the change now," she said.

Serving as the Department Director of Allied Health, Zolvinski has taught at Brown Mackie since 1995. She said she's seen a major shift in the focus of heart health curriculum in recent years. "I've seen a big change in how we deliver the information," she said. "Instead of reactive, we are proactive."

Nursing students at Indiana University Northwest are ushered into heart health topics as early as day one of their schooling. Dr. Linda Delunas, associate dean for the College of Health and Human Services, said curriculum begins with an overall wellness focus and then transitions to more acute illnesses and finally management of long-term conditions.

"As early as their first semester, heart health is embedded throughout the curriculum in various places. Students learn about recommended heart screenings but also about screenings for cancer. When they learn to do a physical exam, they learn about problems of hypertension and general medicine," Delunas said. "We teach the whole gambit by introducing it early and visiting it often to help students understand the importance."

Students of the University of St. Francis Crown Point learn the proactive approach first-hand by administering screenings throughout the community as part of their clinical training.

Diane Harder is a registered nurse and assistant professor.

"We try to stress at the very beginning of the program that cardiovascular disease and disorders are quite common in our area and they are quite costly," she said.

"We need to figure out, for our area especially, how we can keep those costs down and have a better quality of life for our community members."

One course Harder teaches, the medical/surgical course, devotes one-third of its time to anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system. The importance of the subject matter, she said, is due to heart disease remaining the No. 1 killer of Americans.

"We realize it is such an epidemic in our country. We have to be prepared for effectively taking care of the population in our area," Harder said. "This provides students with the knowledge base that they need and I believe it gives them vision for their future nursing careers."

With 25 years of experience teaching at IUN, Delunas said she believes the recent shift to prevention in health care remains more of an employer incentive issue.

"Prevention is a lot of a reaction to what is going on with health insurance premiums skyrocketing. Employers are really trying to encourage healthy lifestyles because they want a healthy workforce," she said. "It's cheaper and easier to prevent than to do some kind of invasive surgery to repair damage."

Regional educators witnessed students' interests and personal investments in heart disease increase as well. Curriculum at Brown Mackie College includes research projects, where students are encouraged to choose a disease or topic in which they have a particular interest. Zolvinski said heart disease is a popular project choice.

"I've seen a definite shift in doing projects on heart-related issues. I'm not sure if it's a catalyst for what drove the student into the field but it's something that they are really aware of," she said.

Harder puts forth her family's experience with the disease into her teachings.

"We are all seeing the importance of topics like cardiovascular health and we try to make students understand how big of a problem this is," she said. "Sometimes it does hit home."