Check. Change. Control. program
We worked with Mercy Health to help Paducah residents take ownership of their cardiovascular health through Check. Change. Control.--a virtual workplace-based program designed to improve blood pressure. Employees from the City of Paducah, which includes the city’s police and fire departments, participated in the three-month program through provided electronic tools, resources and prompts designed to help manage and reduce high blood pressure remotely. The Check. Change. Control. program is part of Mercy Health’s sponsorship of the American Heart Association‘s Healthy for Good initiative.
Amy Travis, Records Manager with the Paducah Police Department, and her co-workers challenged each other to do their blood pressure checks and entering the data. Amy has a family history of cardiovascular disease and her mother had a stroke. The program brought more awareness and attention to Amy’s blood pressure and she, in turn, encouraged her co-workers to take their heart health more seriously. They utilized the information that they received every week and have made some changes in their diet and exercise.
"I enjoyed that my staff and I were keeping each other accountable about checking our blood pressure for this challenge. We would share our results and discuss if we felt our blood pressure should be retaken. I also confirmed that I have ‘white coat syndrome’ when it comes to what my blood pressure is when I’m relaxed and not under pressure as opposed to it being higher at my physical when I am needing it to be a certain number for insurance purposes. Stress definitely plays a huge role in my blood pressure levels. My maternal side of my family, including my mother, all had issues with the heart and/or blood pressure. Some, including my mother, even died at an early age. This has made me very conscientious and proactive about what I eat and how much I exercise so that I can hopefully break that ‘hereditary curse’. Unfortunately, my genes have already proven to be against me in the cholesterol area but I take heart healthy vitamins, fish oil, do not add extra salt to my meals and exercise at least five days a week.” Amy Travis, Records Manager
