University of Wisconsin Platteville Student Health Services

Strategic Communication Proposal

Gwyn Guenther
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, yet when asked most women will cite cancer as
the leading cause of death. Heart disease and stroke cause one in three womens death every
year; one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime (this represents diagnosis,
not death). According to the American Heart Association:

90% of woman have one or more risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
Fewer women than men survive their first heart attack.
Symptoms of a heart attack differ between men and women, and are often misunderstood.
Hispanic women are likely to develop heart disease 10 years earlier than Caucasian
women.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2011), diabetes increases the risk of
heart disease; and women with diabetes (elevated blood sugar levels) have triple the risk of
having heart attacks.
UW Platteville students are required to live on campus for the first two years of their college
career, with some exceptions. For most students, this is the first time in their lives they are
making life choices without their parents oversight. This time is crucial in helping students
make informed choices about their health. Once students have moved out of the dorms and into
apartments near campus their life choices become even more of their own choosing, and have
generally moved from choices to habits. Making the first two years a pivotal time in the
development of lifestyle choices, health choices, and the development of lifelong habits.
The University of Wisconsin at Platteville Student Health Services should implement an
educational and awareness program on campus. This campaign needs to include educational
information for health professionals who work at the Student Health Services, information in
various formats for students using the Student Health Service, and a campus-wide awareness
project.
Student Health Services serves as the first place students go on campus for a variety of medical
services. The Student Health Services website includes educational hyperlinks on the website
about things such as: alcohol, anxiety, birth control, drugs, depression, exercise, healthy weight,
immunization, STIs, substance abuse, tobacco and womens health. The website provides a
rotating picture file which includes a photo about breast cancer awareness. Yet no information is
available on the Student Health Services website about cardiovascular disease, for men or
women.
Results of the 2012 American Heart Association National Survey showed that 21% of those
surveyed said their doctor had never discussed their risk for heart disease; and the numbers were
even lower among young women (6% for those 25-34 years, 16% for those 35-44, 23% for those

45-64, and 33% for those >= 65) (Mosca, L., Hammond, G., Mochari-Greenberger, H.,
Towfighi, A., & Albert, M., 2013, p. 1257-1258).
Health Care Professionals
Health care professionals at the UW Platteville Student Health Services can play an instrumental
role in helping increase awareness about cardiovascular disease in women. The important first
step is to raise awareness among the health care staff about women and cardiovascular disease,
including modifiable risk factors like hypertension, high blood cholesterol, smoking and
diabetes. Diabetes is perhaps the most important risk factor for coronary heart disease in
women, irrespective of age (Rodriquez & Foody, 2013, p. 214). An essential portion of this part
of the communication campaign should be to highlight that heart disease begins in youth and
develops over decades.
Students Using the UW Platteville Student Health Services Center
Information about heart disease in women needs to be prevalent and accessible for students who
enter the Student Health Services building. Information could be present in the waiting area, in
the patient room, and as a hyperlink on the Student Health Services website. The most important
information should be information provided by the health care professionals themselves. This
circles back to the first part of this campaign.
Campus-Wide Awareness Campaign
UW Platteville has done several campus-wide information campaigns. The UW Platteville
Residence Life has a Topic of the Month. The topic presents over a given month and includes
information on the website, information in the dorms and housing, information at all the general
areas on campus, and information within the newsletters that go out to students and parents.
While the goal is to increase awareness for students on campus, this could have the added effect
of increasing awareness of womens heart disease in the surrounding community and supporting
families.
Resources:
American Heart Association. (2016). Heart Disease Statistics at a Glance. Retrieved from:
https://www.goredforwomen.org/about-heartdisease/facts_about_heart_disease_in_women-sub-category/statistics-at-a-glance/
Mosca, L., Hammond, G., Mochari-Greenberger, H., Towfighi, A., & Albert, M. (2013). Fifteenyear trends in awareness of heart disease in women: results of a 2012 American Heart
Association national survey. Circulation, 127(11), 1254-1263.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2011, September 20). Who is at risk for diabetic
heart disease? Retrieved from: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/healthtopics/topics/dhd/atrisk
Rodriguez, F. & Foody, J. (2013). Is cardiovascular disease in young women overlooked?
Womens Health, 9(3), 213-215.