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Promoting heart health in women isn't just the right thing to do -- it's now "haute couture."
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute took the unusual step earlier this year of teaming up with America's most prestigious fashion designers to create the Red Dress Project -- the centerpiece of NHLBI's "The Heart Truth" campaign. The Red Dress Pin symbolizes the ongoing campaign's simple message: "Heart disease doesn't care what you wear. It's the #1 killer of women."
The project represents a partnership of NHLBI; Mercedes-Benz USA; top fashion designers; and 7th on Sixth, the producers of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Nineteen renowned couturiers displayed their Red Dress Project interpretations during the fashion week, held Feb. 7 14 in New York City.
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In addition to the Red Dress Project, "The Heart Truth" campaign includes no-nonsense television, radio and print public service advertisements designed to deliver a wake-up call and help women focus on both their "outer" and "inner" selves.
The PSAs are supplemented by various consumer materials, including:
A speaker's kit is also available to assist health professionals, community leaders and consumers in spreading the word about heart disease to women at the local level. Go to http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/material/material.htm to find out how to order these materials.
And speaking of spreading the word, there's no better time than now to talk with women about all aspects of their health. During National Women's Health Week -- May 11 17 -- thousands of women throughout America will have a chance to focus on improving their health.
Sponsored by the National Women's Health Information Center, a service of HHS' Office on Women's Health, the goal of NWHW is to educate, screen and counsel women about risks to their health and how to avoid them. Partners in the endeavor include national women's groups, local and national health organizations, civic and social services agencies, businesses, and others.
The week kicks off on Mother's Day but really gears up with the first-ever National Women's Check-up Day May 12. On this day, community health centers, hospitals and individual health professionals across the country will encourage women, especially medically underserved women, to receive proper health screenings and other preventive services.
For more information about the week's events, including activities in your area, visit the health information center's Web site at http://www.4woman.gov/whw/ or call (800) 994-9662.
FP Report is published by the
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Copyright © 2003 by
American Academy of Family Physicians.