Honoring Your Heart on the Wind River Indian Reservation

Honoring Your Heart on the Wind River Indian Reservation is a coordinated clinical-community health education program aimed at increasing cardiovascular health knowledge and reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors among members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The two-part program consists of Honoring the Gift of Heart Health classes, a National Institutes of Health–IHS jointly developed educational program, followed by a group Lifestyle Balance program which focuses on physical activity and healthy diet. The project aims to produce measurable improvement in clinical measures (e.g., reduction in blood pressure levels, cholesterol, triglyceride levels, weight), as well as improving participant knowledge about cardiovascular disease and increasing participants’ confidence in their ability to self-manage their heart health.

Sundance Research Institute clinical staff provided training to Tribal health aides on the Honoring Your Heart Health curriculum and assisted with implementation of the educational aspects of the program. In addition, Sundance Research Institute staff collected survey, focus group, and clinical data from all participants and conducted an evaluation of the program to assess overall effectiveness, outcomes, and behavioral change.

Honoring Your Heart is funded by a 2-year grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular Health^SM program, totaling $436,852. The program awards Foundation grants of $150,000 and more annually to U.S.-based nonprofit organizations working to improve cardiovascular health in their communities.