Grady Health System Awarded Gold from the American Stroke Association

Grady Health System announced earlier this month that it has received the American Stroke Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke (GWTG¬Stroke) Gold Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Grady’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care for at least 24 months according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations. Grady is situated in the heart of the stroke belt – an area in the southeastern United States that sees more strokes and stroke-related deaths than other parts of the country.

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the GWTG–Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time,” said Dr. Michael Frankel, Grady’s Chief of Neurology and the director of the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady. “Grady Health System has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.”

To receive the GWTG-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award, Grady demonstrated 85% adherence in the GWTG–Stroke key measures for 24 or more consecutive months. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs, and smoking cessation.

“The American Stroke Association commends Grady Health System for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee Member and director of the acute stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”

GWTG¬Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke. Through GWTG–¬Stroke, customized patient education materials are made available at the point of discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles. The take-away materials are written in an easy-to-understand format and are available in English and Spanish. In addition, the GWTG Patient Management Tool provides access to up-to-date cardiovascular and stroke science at the point of care.

“The time is right for Grady to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing GWTG¬Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” said Frankel, also a professor of Neurology at Emory University. According to the American Stroke Association (which is a division of the American Heart Association), each year approximately 700,000 people suffer a stroke — 500,000 are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent. Of stroke survivors, 21 percent of men and 24 percent of women die within a year, and for those aged 65 and older, the percentage is even higher.

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New CDC Study Finds Community Physical Activity Programs Are Money Well Spent

Community-based physical activity interventions designed to promote more active lifestyles among adults are cost-effective in reducing heart disease, stroke, colorectal and breast cancers, and type 2 diabetes, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Using a rigorous economic model developed to assess the cost-effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions, the study found these interventions to be cost-effective; reducing new cases of many chronic diseases and improving quality of life.

Researchers found that community-based physical activity programs appeared to reduce new cases of disease by: 5-15 cases per 100,000 people for colon cancer; 15-58 cases per 100,000 for breast cancer; 59-207 cases per 100,000 for type 2 diabetes; and 140-476 cases per 100,000 for heart disease.

Community-based physical activity interventions broadly fall under the following strategies:

-- Community campaigns such as mass communication efforts (TV/radio,
newspapers, billboards, advertisements).
-- Social support networks such as exercise groups to encourage behavior
change.
-- Tailored behavior change to encourage people to set physical activity
goals and monitor their individual progress.
-- Enhanced access to services that support active lifestyles such as
fitness centers, bike paths and walking trails.


"Our study found that public health strategies that promote physical activity are cost effective, and compared with other well-accepted prevention strategies, such as treatment for high cholesterol or motor vehicle air bags, offer good value for the money spent," said Larissa Roux, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study.

The study, "Cost Effectiveness of Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention," is being published in the online version of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"This study supports the value and effectiveness of the physical activity interventions that were studied," said William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. "This study also shows the importance of the new physical activity guidelines put forth last month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."

The HHS guidelines recommend:
-- Two and a half hours each week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity,
such as brisk walking or,
-- An hour and 15 minutes each week of vigorous-intensity aerobic
activity such as jogging or running.


In addition, all adults should include muscle strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups on two or more days per week.

CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity funds programs in 23 states designed to prevent obesity and promote healthy lifestyle habits such as physical activity.

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