This project would be a collaboration between the Crook County Health Department and Dr. Backus. We would like to build upon the work that Dr. Backus did in 2017-2018 providing educational sessions to providers regarding effective hypertension control. In this expansion project, Dr. Backus will continue to offer lectures to regional clinics. He will also develop a presentation that will cater to lay persons wanting to become more active in the management of their own hypertension. These 30 minute presentations would be given by Dr. Backus, and offered to the community organizations throughout the tri-county area and as an employee wellness opportunity. Dr. Mark Backus is a board-certified internist and co-founder of Cascade Internal Medicine. Dr. Backus has practiced in Bend for 16 years. In 2014 , he was one of 30 providers nationwide, and the only provider in Oregon that year, to be recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Million Hearts Hypertension initiative for successfully controlling the blood pressure of at least 70% of his hypertensive patients.
Crook County's role would be to support Dr. Backus in marketing, scheduling and organizing the presentations, as well as assisting with the data collection. Kylie Loving, Health Educator at the Crook County Health Department (CCHD), will be the point person at CCHD for this project. She currently coordinates the Diabetes Prevention Program in Crook County. She has experience in the development, implementation and evaluation of community health programs.
"Dr. Backus was a superb presenter. Our members found several important takeaways from his presentation that continued in discussion for another 15 minutes after he signed off."
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- This project targets patients in Central Oregon with uncontrolled hypertension. Controlled blood pressure reduces risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and heart failure. Nationwide, about 1 in 2 adults have been diagnosed with hypertension, and of those, only half are controlled (http://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm). Additionally, many people with high blood pressure are undiagnosed and untreated. For these reasons, cardiovascular disease and uncontrolled hypertension were singled out as targeted areas in the current Central Oregon Regional Health Improvement Plan. Hypertension is also an area of focus for the Oregon Health Authority’s quality improvement measures reported to the state by the Central Oregon Coordinated Care Organization. This workgroup has identified the dual strategies of work site wellness and provider education as priorities to meet their goal of having 80% of Central Oregonians with controlled blood pressure.
- This project was implemented by Crook County Health Department and Dr. Mark Backus.
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The project attempted to:- Decrease the number of people in the Central Oregon region who have uncontrolled hypertension through provider engagement and community education.
- Conduct one clinic presentation and one community presentation per month over a two year period for a total of 48 presentations.
- Disseminate guideline-adherent methods for controlling high blood pressure and Dr. Backus’ nationally-recognized expertise to as many providers and employees in Central Oregon as possible.
Made a total of 38 presentations.
Made 14 provider presentations and 24 presentations to community based sites.
There was an increase in knowledge from baseline in community presentations, as the average pre survey score was 59% and the average post survey score was 93%.
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- The project showed an increase in knowledge from baseline in both community presentations and clinical presentations.
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One challenge was that because of COVID-19, they had to cancel several scheduled presentations. They worked to offer the presentations virtually, but many organizations were not set up to hold virtual meetings. The new virtual platforms made it difficult to collect some of the pre and post data that we had been collecting with the in person data collection system. Another challenge was giving presentations in all 3 counties.
This project was important to increase knowledge about hypertension in patients and providers.
This project informed adults of all ages on actions to take to better understand and control their hypertension.
Presentations encouraged patients to become more active in the management of their own hypertension.