{"id":17245,"date":"2026-02-02T10:15:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=17245"},"modified":"2026-02-02T10:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:15:38","slug":"richmond-and-henrico-health-districts-encourage-community-members-to-prioritize-heart-health","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/richmond-and-henrico-health-districts-encourage-community-members-to-prioritize-heart-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Encourage Community Members to Prioritize Heart Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>February 2, 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, <a href=\"mailto:bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov\">bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Encourage Community Members to Prioritize Heart Health<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>February is<\/em> <em>American Heart Month<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>RICHMOND, Va.<\/strong> \u2013 In honor of American Heart Month, Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) encourage you to take action to prioritize heart health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHeart health continues to be one of the top areas of health focus in our community,\u201d said Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Community Health Nurse Supervisor Virginia Slattum. \u201cOur <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/119\/2025\/04\/2024-Richmond-and-Henrico-CHA.pdf\">2024 Community Health Assessment<\/a> showed that Richmond and Henrico residents and community partners see chronic disease as a top health priority. We look forward to continuing this collaboration to support heart health in the region. We encourage folks to promote their own heart health by quitting smoking, getting regular physical exercise, and eating heart-healthy foods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Heart disease data<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Virginia Department of Health (VDH) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/data\/chronic-disease-in-virginia\/\">chronic disease data<\/a> from 2023 show that Richmond City and Henrico County had hospitalization and death rates for cardiovascular disease higher than statewide rates. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/wonder.cdc.gov\/\">CDC data from 2023<\/a>, heart disease was the leading cause of death in Virginia, Richmond City, and Henrico County.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RHHD offers the following tips for choosing heart-healthy foods and activities:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Check your blood pressure. <\/strong>Read more about ways to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/high-blood-pressure\/living-with\/index.html\">prevent and manage high blood pressure<\/a>. Here are some helpful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/health-topics\/consumer-healthcare\/doctor-appointments-questions-to-ask-your-doctor\/heart-to-heart-talking-to-your-doctor\">tips for talking with a doctor<\/a> to manage and check your blood pressure. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/high-blood-pressure\/measure\/index.html#cdc_generic_section_6-how-to-measure-your-blood-pressure-at-home\">measure and track your blood pressure at home<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take steps to quit smoking<\/strong> by contacting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/free-from-smoking-program\/\">RHHD\u2019s Free From Tobacco program<\/a> on the web or by calling 804-482-8018. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) offers Quit Now Virginia, which includes free telephone or web-based counseling services, Text2Quit support, self-help materials, and referrals to local resources. Call 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669) or learn more at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quitnow.net\/virginia\">Quit Now Virginia Website<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choose healthy meals and snacks.<\/strong> Include plenty of fruit and vegetables in your diet and choose foods lower in sodium and saturated fat. Try <a href=\"https:\/\/recipes.heart.org\/en\">heart-healthy recipes<\/a> from the American Heart Association.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make physical activity a regular part of your day. <\/strong>Adults <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/physical-activity-basics\/guidelines\/adults.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/physicalactivity\/basics\/adults\/index.htm\">should get<\/a> at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. This type of exercise could be a brisk walk, running, or bicycling. Learn more about ways to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/physical-activity-basics\/adding-adults\/what-counts.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/physicalactivity\/basics\/adults\/index.htm\">increase your physical activity<\/a> throughout the day.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get vaccinated.<\/strong> Flu, RSV, and pneumococcal vaccines have been linked to <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.jhu.edu\/2025\/the-health-and-economic-benefits-of-vaccines\">reduced risk of cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory events in older adults<\/a>. Adults over 65 and people with chronic conditions are particularly susceptible to severe complications from these illnesses. According to the American Heart Association, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/CIR.0000000000001303\">nearly half American adults<\/a> live with some type of cardiovascular disease and are more likely to experience severe illness that may result in hospitalization or death.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Healthy Hearts Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As part of the VDH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/heart-disease\/virginia-healthy-hearts-initiative\/\">Healthy Hearts Initiative<\/a>, RHHD Cardiovascular Health Community Health Workers support community members with hypertensive conditions by providing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Connections to primary care providers<\/li>\n<li>Nutrition and exercise education<\/li>\n<li>Blood pressure monitoring<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Community members can visit <a href=\"http:\/\/rhhd.gov\/connect-pc\">rhhd.gov\/connect-pc<\/a> to find local primary care providers. Community members can visit <a href=\"https:\/\/rhhd.gov\/\">rhhd.gov<\/a> for more health and safety information.<\/p>\n<p>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/rhhd.gov\/\">rhhd.gov<\/a> for more health and safety information. Follow RHHD on Instagram (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/richmondcity_hd\">@richmondcity_hd<\/a>) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RichmondHenricoHealthDistricts\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em># # #<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 2, 2026 Media Contact: Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Encourage Community Members to Prioritize Heart Health February is American Heart Month \u00a0 RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 In honor of American Heart Month, Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) encourage you to take action to prioritize heart health. \u201cHeart health continues to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"parent":16853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[698,62,1489,1251,1488,752,1446,1487],"class_list":["post-17245","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-blood-pressure","tag-community-health-assessment","tag-healthy-hearts-initiative","tag-heart-disease","tag-physical-activity","tag-quit-now-virginia","tag-quit-smoking","tag-virginia-slattum"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - 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