The Heart Foundation’s new Heart Health Check Toolkit is designed to assist general practice staff to easily assess and manage Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in line with the latest guidelines. With approximately 2.5 million Australians at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next five years, and over half of these have not had an event previously[1] it can be used as a critical tool for care.
Heart Health Checks support the specific assessment and management of absolute CVD risk in primary care for eligible patients 45 years and over (30 years and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients).
The Heart Health Check Toolkit will streamline your practice processes for your patients, help you communicate heart-healthy tips to your patients and make sure the 20 min check runs as conveniently as possible.
The following are some benefits of the Heart Health Check Toolkit:
- Pre-filled assessment and management templates make it easier for you to collect CVD risk factor information and support your patients to manage their risk.
- The ‘quality improvement’ section of the Toolkit has all that your practice needs to kickstart continuous quality improvement as required by the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) Quality Improvement (QI).
- Re-engaging with your patients about their heart health has never been so important. The patient invitation templates, receptionist guide and data recall recipes can be used to identify and recall your at-risk patients.
- Waiting room posters, animations and brochures will help you to engage with your patients about their heart health in an impactful way.
- Thinking about setting up a heart health promotional event? The step-by-step guide can be used by the entire team to help you prepare.
The Heart Foundation has also created a Promotional Pack which includes a range of materials and resources that you can use to spread the messages about the Heart Health Check Toolkit.
Health care professionals can access CVD Risk Assessment pathways.
To access HealthPathways, you will need the general login details. For more information, please contact our HealthPathways team at healthpathways@wentwest.com.au
For WSLHD and SCHN Staff, please access HealthPathways via the WSLHD/SCHN Intranet Applications page.
[1] E Banks, SR Crouch, RJ Korda, B Stavreski, K Page, KA Thurber and R Grenfell, ‘Absolute risk of cardiovascular disease events, and blood pressure- and lipid-lowering therapy in Australia’, Med J Aust, 2016, 204(8):320, doi:10.5694/mja15.01004.