Day 1- Heart Disease Prevention

At this point in my addition as researcher to the Piper Place study, Mr. Milligan had already completed phase 1 of the project—collecting pre-implementation data. He collected heart rate, blood pressure, waist and hip circumference, weight, and height to determine body mass index and waist-hip ratio. These measurements are clinically indicative of overall health and obesity. He also administered a questionnaire to accompany the physical aspects of health as well as to measure the consumers’ perspective of his or her own health. My later post should include a copy of this survey.

                Now that the pre-experiment data has been collected, it was time to teach some classes!  On my first day at Piper Place we taught about the prevention of heart disease. Risk factors for this illness include genetics, male gender, obesity, tobacco and alcohol use, and diabetes. We also talked about the variables that affect heart disease such as cholesterol, and the difference between “bad” (low-density lipoprotein) and “good” (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. A majority of the consumers smoke cigarettes, so it was very important to address this issue. Smoking increases blood pressure and the risk for heart attacks and decreases HDL’s. These factors can also lead to heart disease. The session ended with preventative measures such as healthy eating and exercise.

                Communicating with a group of people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders poses a few difficult, but fun challenges. The consumers are very inquisitive. We could barely speak two sentences before a question was asked. Got to love the involvement! Questions would often be unrelated to the topic, however, so the session required much redirection. When speaking, we had to use simple sentences and analogies that were easier for the group to understand. For example, “heart disease is an illness where your heart is sick. The heart pumps one gallon of blood every minute which looks like one gallon of milk from the grocery store.” Visual aids such as heart models and power point presentation helped the consumers better comprehend the information while giving them some hands-on activities. Although the communication barriers were tough, I enjoyed having to tailor my words “on the spot.” They were eager to learn, and I did my best to help them grasp the information.