Brochures and Stroke Prevention, Essay Example

Stroke is considered a major problem in the United States.  In fact, there are almost one million people diagnosed with a stroke per year within the United States alone.  In addition, strokes are indicated to be the third leading cause of mortality.  Stroke awareness and prevention have been an important topic in health organizations such as the American Heart Association (AHA).  The goal of the American Heart Association is to decrease the occurrence of stroke mortality through preventative health strategies, such as awareness to stroke risk factors.  The AHA provides guidelines to medical professional in order for translation into clinical practice.  There has been evidence that these types of measures are not used properly in general practices.  Therefore, there are other options health care professionals can use to implement awareness to strokes and stroke prevention, such as educational materials provided in brochure format.  (Goldstein et al., 2011)

It has been suggested that physicians and all other healthcare professionals implement methods in order to help improve their practice in regard to stroke prevention and awareness. For one, all medical staff should be trained to properly identify stroke risk factors in each patient, regardless of the presiding complaint. In addition, patients at risk and their families should be aware of all signs and symptoms of strokes, as well as risk factors.  In order to increase prevention and awareness, there are steps that can be taken such as brochures or other education materials.(Goldstein et al., 2011)  Providing patients and their families with information helps communicate with the patient and increases quality care from the provider. The only issue with brochures occurs with the possibility of the patients reading and understanding the information. Cultural, social and ethnic differences in patients could result in the lack of understanding or ability to read the material. It is therefore important for healthcare professionals to understand the signs and symptoms and review the important information in the educational materials directly with the patient.

References

Goldstein, L.B. et al.  (2011).  Guidelines for the Primary Prevention of Stroke. A Guideline for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. American Heart Association. 42:517-584