Review of community-based interventions for prevention of cardiovascular diseases in low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

There have been effective community-based programmes aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk factors in LMIC but these have generally been limited to the urban poor. Health education with a focus on diet and salt, training of health care providers and implementing treatment guidelines form key elements in successful programmes.

Culture, ethnicity and chronic conditions: reframing concepts and methods for research, interventions and policy in low- and middle-income countries

“…The chronic conditions in focus fall under two categories: (1) chronic physical conditions and their risk factors (Agyemang et al forthcoming;Cooper et al 2012;Samuels et al 2012;Taylor et al forthcoming;van de Vijver et al 2013); and (2) chronic mental health and psychosocial conditions and their social determinants (Ronda et al forthcoming; Vloeberghs et al forthcoming). The research communities described in the empirical papers include Nigerians of mixed ethnicities (Yoruba, Ibo, other) living with hypertension in Lagos, Nigeria (Taylor et al forthcoming), African migrants of mixed nationalities (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda) living in Glasgow making sense of chronic diseases and their risk factors (Cooper et al 2012), migrant African women of mixed nationalities (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan) living in the Netherlands recounting their home country experiences of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C; Vloeberghs et al forthcoming), and migrants of various nationalities self-reporting their health disabling working conditions through the European Working Conditions Survey conducted in all 31 European countries (Ronda et al forthcoming).…”

Impact of a Pilot Intervention to Increase Physician–Patient Communication About Stroke Risk in Indonesia

“…Three of the most prominent intervention strategies for preventing cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) in LMICs are educating patients, training health care staff, and implementing prevention or treatment guidelines (van de Vijver, Oti, Addo, de Graft-Aikins, & Agyemang, 2012). Kanungsukkasem et al (2009) noted that such interventions should focus on communicating accurate and useful information to patients about risk factors, which frequently involves pairing counseling with printed educational materials.…”

Development of cardiovascular health education program for primary care patients with hypertension in rural Nigeria: a qualitative study

“…A review of community-based interventions for CVD prevention in low-and middle income countries suggests that patient education can have a positive effect on treatment adherence and BP control among patients with hypertension [8]. The literature provides ample information on health education programs to support hypertension self-management for patients living in high income countries [10].…”

“…Unfortunately, many people in the region have no access to affordable hypertension care in their communities. In addition, in settings where affordable care is available, poor compliance can compromise treatment outcomes [6][7][8]. Indeed, adequate hypertension management is challenging in SSA and multiple interventions are needed to improve both access to-and compliance with quality care [9].…”