SCIENTIFIC STUDY AND GLOBAL STRATEGY

“In the Healthy Communities program it is the members of the community itself who promote the change of the health paradigm in their town” Dr. Valentín Fuster

The SHE Foundation has designed a scientific study to evaluate the effectiveness of a community intervention, Healthy Communities, in which special attention is paid to the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease (smoking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity). The aim of the project is to implement and validate a healthy city program in which cardiovascular health habits are promoted at all stages of life and the citizens themselves are involved in improving their health and well-being potential. The Healthy Communities HC2030 study aims to create a culture of health in Cardona, where working for cardiovascular health involves everyone.

DESIGN

Healthy Communities HC2030 is based on the implementation of health programs previously evaluated by the SHE Foundation. The results of these programs have been published in leading scientific journals. You will find the articles in the “Publications” sub-section. These two programs are the SI! Total Health Program, for children and adolescents, and the Fifty-Fifty Program, for the adult population.

  • SI! Program: an educational program in the school environment focused on the promotion of cardiovascular health in children and adolescents from 3 to 16 years of age. This program is implemented by the teachers of the center who have been specifically trained to carry it out together with the SHE Foundation. From the classroom and in the school environment, and with the participation of the families, we act to promote healthy behaviors related to nutrition, physical activity and emotional management with body and heart awareness as the axis
  • Fifty-Fifty Program: a peer-to-peer support program for the adult population. The program begins with training on cardiovascular risk factors with a series of workshops where topics such as healthy eating, physical activity, smoking and stress are discussed in depth, followed by a series of group dynamics where participants help each other to improve their cardiovascular health habits.

More information on the health programs of the Healthy Communities HC2030 study can be found in the “Programs” section and on the SHE Foundation website.

The project is funded by the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and with the collaboration of the private SHE Foundation and “La Caixa” banking Foundation. Also collaborating in the scientific field are the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, the National Cardiovascular Research Center, the Catalan Health Institute, the Cardona Town Council and the Sallent Town Council..

Healthy Communities HC2030 has been designed as a controlled, long-term intervention study involving some 2300 people between the ages of 12 and 84 from the village of Cardona (intervention town) and Sallent (control town). The study has a duration of ten years and starts in the third quarter of 2021.

The implementation of the programs is carried out in three consecutive phases:

  • Phase I (2021-2023): implementation by the SHE Foundation of health programs in the school environment and for adults (SI! and Fifty-Fifty respectively). Specific actions and activities are carried out to promote and maintain health and wellness in the community.
  • Phase II (2023-2024): transition period in which the inhabitants of Cardona progressively take on the role of implementing the programs with the supervision of the SHE Foundation.
  • Phase III (2024 onwards): self-management of the various health programs by the inhabitants of Cardona.

A team of nurses and assistants trained specifically for the study will take measurements and administer questionnaires to the 2300 participants to evaluate the evolution of cardiovascular health indicators such as obesity, cholesterol and blood glucose levels, hypertension, degree of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle, and dietary habits. These measurements will be taken in 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2030 and will include weight; height; waist circumference; blood pressure; muscle strength; and cholesterol, triglyceride and blood glucose levels.

In addition, questionnaires will be conducted on eating habits, physical activity, sleep, smoking, emotional management and stress level. All these data will be analyzed using the population of Sallent as a reference, which will be the control group. In the municipality of Sallent only the measurements and questionnaires will be recorded, but none of the health programs of the SHE Foundation will be carried out.

2021-20222023-202420252026-2027-2028-20292030
First measurentsSecond measurementsThird measurementsLast measurements

2.300 participants

Cardona: 1150 participants take part in health programs and measurements. The control group of the study will be made up of 1150 people from Sallent, who will also be measured, but without receiving the health programs.

PUBLICATIONS

Fifty-Fifty Program

The results obtained with the Fifty-Fifty program show that, after one year of intervention, 67% of the participants in the intervention group improved in one of the five cardiovascular risk factors. Almost half of the participants reduced their tobacco consumption and 46% of the participants increased their physical activity.

SI! Program

The results obtained with the SI! Total Health program show that the children who have participated in the intervention have improved significantly more than those in the control group with respect to knowledge, attitudes and habits related to cardiovascular health. The most marked differences were in the area of physical activity. After three courses, favorable differences have been achieved in the children who have received the educational program in obesity indicators directly related to cardiovascular health, such as body mass index and waist circumference. Currently, the primary (6-11 years old) and secondary (12-16 years old) stages of the SI! Total Health program are being evaluated.