The NHS gets serious about prevention
As we get to work on our campaign to prevent stroke, we attended the NHS Health Checks conference for 2017 – Getting Serious About Prevention
On 9 February in Manchester’s beautiful Principal Hotel, the Blood Pressure UK team attended the conference Getting Serious About Prevention 2017: Improving Cardiovascular Health Together. The event was run by NHS Health Check, a programme that provides free health checks to people aged 40-74, aiming to spot the early signs of diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and dementia, a group of illnesses collectively known as cardiovascular disease.
The conference brought together a broad range of people who aim to prevent these illnesses, including charities, public health groups and government organisations. The aim was to show how NHS Health Checks can support disease prevention programmes and to discuss how, together, we can tackle cardiovascular disease.
Just what is CVD Risk and how can it be communicated?
In an interesting training session, Public Health Specialist, Mike Bridges, talked us through how to calculate a patient’s risk of cardiovascular disease and then explain their risk in a simple, non-medical and nonthreatening way that stimulates them to make changes to improve their health. We discussed how age, gender, ethnicity, blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, family history, smoking, drinking, and even where you live can all affect the risk of cardiovascular disease.
We discussed how we are all building inflammation and blockages in our arteries from our teenage years onwards, and how Health Checks can help to establish the extent of the damage and how lifestyle changes can help.
Our Blood Pressure UK information stand
We were busy throughout the day talking to visitors to our stand, explaining how we support people with high blood pressure and our annual Know Your Numbers! Week. After a delicious and healthy lunch, we caught up with our friends at Heart UK, British and Irish Hypertension Society, HeartAge and Diabetes UK to discuss how we can work together to prevent cardiovascular disease.
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Find out more about the NHS Health Checks conference
Read more about NHS Health Checks and how you can look after your health