H.E.A.R.T. - Helping Everyone Address Risk Today

Bringing Free Cardiovascular Risk Screening Directly into Louisville Communities

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What is H.E.A.R.T.?

H.E.A.R.T. is a University of Louisville community health initiative that partners with churches, community organizations, health centers and other neighborhood groups to provide free cardiovascular risk screenings. 

The program was created to identify cardiovascular risk earlier, provide participants with individualized education about their results, and connect people with appropriate follow-up care. H.E.A.R.T. serves individuals throughout Louisville, with outreach initially focused in West Louisville because of the area's higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and cardiac mortality. 

What We Provide
Blood pressure and pulse measurement
Finger-stick cholesterol and blood glucose testing
Point-of-care creatinine testing to assess kidney function
Cardiovascular 10-year risk assessment
Individual education and counseling about results
Assistance connecting with follow-up medical care when indicated

New research from H.E.A.R.T.

Traditional, clinic-centered preventive frameworks frequently fail marginalized urban populations. To bridge this gap, the community-embedded H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Everyone Address Risk Today) initiative was established, transitioning from race-based risk calculators to the PREVENT framework to deploy decentralized screening, health navigation, and culturally grounded nutrition resources in under-resourced neighborhoods. 

Read the paper here! about
Closing the gaps in cardiovascular prevention: nutrition, coronary calcium, and equitable implementation

Closing the gaps in cardiovascular prevention: nutrition, coronary calcium, and equitable implementation

In the heart of western Louisville, a low-income area with high rates of cardiovascular disease, an innovative heart screening initiative is making a meaningful difference in the lives of underserved patients. Kim Allan Williams Sr., MD, chair of the department of medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and former president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), is leading a grassroots outreach campaign to identify and treat cardiovascular risks before they lead to heart attacks, strokes, or death. "We are finally doing what we've been hoping to do in cardiology for a long time, which is stop just mopping up the floor with fancier and fancier mops, but actually turning off the faucet and doing some prevention," explained Williams, who also serves as an ACC delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA). The program, known as HEART ("Helping Everyone Address Risk Today"), conducts weekend screening events in churches and community centers, where residents undergo simple fingerstick tests for cholesterol and blood glucose along with blood pressure measurements. Using demographic information and a zip code-based social determinants calculator from the American Heart Association (AHA), the team estimates each participant’s 10-year risk of heart attack, stroke or death.

H.E.A.R.T. in the Community

H.E.A.R.T. brings preventive cardiovascular screening into the community, meeting people where they already live, work, worship, and gather. Of the 2,300 plus individuals that have been screened, the majority were found to have abnormal results and were referred to their own physician or to UofL Health with assistance from a UofL Physicians onsite scheduler.
2,300+

individuals screened 

63

community events 

Why H.E.A.R.T. Matters 

Where people live can have a significant effect on their health. Access to healthy food, safe opportunities for physical activity, education, economic resources, stress management, and access to health care all contribute to cardiovascular health. 

H.E.A.R.T. addresses one part of that challenge by bringing preventive screening and health education directly into Louisville communities. 

Bring H.E.A.R.T. to Your Community 

Churches, community organizations, neighborhood groups and other organizations may request a H.E.A.R.T. cardiovascular screening for an upcoming community event.