May is National Stroke Awareness Month. You know the statistics, the risk factors, and the latest treatments. But how do you educate your patients and do what you can to keep them well-informed on stroke prevention? The Arkansas Minority Health Commission (AMHC) has taken initiatives to educate the public and facilitate screenings and referrals to local low-cost providers, making it easier for patients to regulate their numbers and prevent their risk of stroke.
While progress has been made to decrease the death rate from stroke, it still remains the fifth leading cause of death in America. On average, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Stroke risk is nearly twice as high for Black Americans as for White Americans, and Black Americans are also more likely to die from stroke than their White counterparts. In fact, Black Americans have the highest death rate from stroke than any other racial group.
There are several risk factors for stroke, but high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking, and obesity are the leading causes. At least one-third of U.S. adults have one of these conditions or habits. Over two-thirds of black U.S. adults have at least one of these risk factors. Despite the staggering statistics, 80% of strokes are preventable if the patient takes action and makes healthy choices.
For some patients, it can be hard to control for risk factors that may lead to stroke if they don’t know their own numbers (weight, BMI, blood pressure, etc.). In rural states like Arkansas, people may also have limited access to a doctor or clinic so they can begin dealing with their hypertension or heart disease. To mitigate these issues, statewide leaders, like the Arkansas Minority Health Commission (AMHC), a division of the Arkansas Department of Health, have implemented initiatives to screen, coordinate care, and educate the public. Kenya Eddings, MPH, AMHC’s Executive Director, works daily to bring education and awareness to minorities and rural populations in Arkansas.
Mobile Health Unit
Arkansas is a largely rural state, so not every person may have reliable access to health care and preventive care services. AMHC’s mobile health unit meets people where they are by bringing services directly to the community.
AMHC provides screenings for a variety of factors, including those related to stroke, through a mobile health unit. “We screen people’s blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c, BMI (height/weight), and HIV, among others. We also distribute fecal immunochemical tests kits (FIT kits) to the community to help screen for colon cancer and offer a variety of vaccinations,” Kenya says.
“Coordination of care and providing referrals are essential in helping to address chronic diseases and other conditions that affect those we serve,” Kenya says. “When we screen someone with high blood pressure, for example, we refer them to a local health unit or a low/no-cost health center nearest to them.” Cultivating strong relationships with local health units and other community resources ensures that patients have their needs met, but also that they continue to receive the care they need down the road, should other health issues arise. “We follow up with those whom we refer for services at six-, nine-, and 12-months post-screening,” Kenya says. Through care coordination, AMHC makes it easy for people to monitor their own numbers and be more mindful of the risk factors they have that could lead to a stroke later in life. AMHC keeps an updated list of the mobile health unit’s dates and locations on their website and on their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
Southern Ain't Fried Sundays
Nutritious foods are known to regulate BMI, high blood pressure, obesity, and low blood sugar. Many providers can talk with patients about eating right, but without the proper support and a steady commitment, most patients will not meet the milestones required to stay healthy. Part of the struggle for patients in rural areas may be a lack of resources for healthy recipes. AMHC’s Southern Ain’t Fried Sundays (SAFS) is a “Food as Medicine” program used to reduce obesity and chronic disease. SAFS has revamped favorite Southern classic recipes so that people can prepare them in healthy ways without sacrificing flavor. Through SAFS, AMHC provides healthy recipes patients can use to stay on track and maintain a healthy diet.
Each participant in SAFS receives access to our web application to track calories, steps, and health care milestones. “Participants engage with the plan for 21 days,” Kenya says. “Throughout participation, they receive recipe cards for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.” Additionally, participants receive fact sheets to learn more about blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure, all key components in cardiovascular disease, one of the leading risk factors for stroke. “As a bonus,” Kenya adds, “once participants finish the program, they’ll receive our famous cookbook as well as an SAFS-branded apron.
“The program is free for anyone who wants to participate,” Kenya says. “Providers and health care professionals can help spread the word about the program by having their patients or any other individual call the SAFS coordinator, Ronda Gilbert-Hines, at 501-682-8825 or by emailing
Though cardiovascular disease and stroke are still issues that minorities face, AMHC works to ensure that maintaining a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be difficult. Through their mobile health unit and their SAFS cookbook, they bring the resources directly into the communities. Providers and health care professionals in any community across the state, whether urban or rural, can educate their patients on these amazing resources and promote rural health care coordination. We all have a role to play in ensuring that we promote a community dedicated to equitable and accessible health care.
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{slider title="Meet Kenya Eddings, MPH"}
Kenya Eddings, MPH, is the eighth executive director of Arkansas Minority Health Commission. The Little Rock native holds a bachelor of science degree from Tuskegee University and master of public health degree from Tulane University School of Public Health. Prior to joining AMHC, Eddings served as the Worksite Wellness Director for the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). In this role, she helped state agencies, non-profits, and for-profit businesses establish and maintain wellness programs. A portion of her duties included training the aforementioned on the importance of lactation accommodations in the workplace and in the public.
Eddings also previously worked as a Research Scientist for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for nearly 20 years. A published author with dozens of peer-reviewed articles to her credit, a few of her research interests have included behavioral weight loss and maintenance in African-American women, stress management and its relationship to obesity, as well as access to healthy food.
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