Table 7. Heart Disease Prevention Patient Education Guide
Know Personal/ Familial Risk	Discuss family history with patient; know familial risks; know risk levels related to ethnicity and racial factors.
Smoking Cessation	Support the patient to quit smoking, utilizing current treatment guidelines. Follow the 5 As of Smoking Cessation: Ask: Identify and document tobacco use status for every patient at every visit. Advise: In a clear, strong, and personalized manner, urge every tobacco user to quit. Assess: Is the tobacco user willing to make a quit attempt at this time? Assist: For the patient willing to make a quit attempt, use counseling and pharmacotherapy to help him or her quit. Arrange: Schedule followup contact, in person or by telephone, preferably within the first week after the quit date. Follow current treatment guidelines for smoking cessation; these can be obtained from: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/tobaqrg.htm.
Blood Pressure Control	Frequent monitoring of blood pressure; blood pressure values should be obtained at every healthcare visit; focus on lowering blood pressure to normotensive levels.
Cholesterol Control	Serum lipid profiles regularly, treatment of high levels following current treatment guidelines.
Blood Glucose Control	Regular serum glucose monitoring; treatment of impaired glucose levels following current treatment guidelines (ADA, 2004).
Weight Control/Reduction	Maintain a healthy weight; weight reduction following accepted and safe weight reduction methods should be encouraged. One example of the many weight control/reduction programs available is The American Heart Association’s Simple Solutions Program, which focuses on diet and exercise. This can be accessed at http://www.s2mw.com/simplesolutions/.
Activity Level	If not contraindicated for health reasons, moderate exercise for 30 minutes daily. Multiple organizations have exercise programs, among them are the American Heart Association’s Simple Solutions Program which can be accessed at http://www.s2mw.com/simplesolutions/.
Stress Management	Each individual makes choices about how to manage their daily stressors; assist patients to identify stressors in their lives and a variety of management approaches. This can range from saying “no” to too many time and energy obligations to referral for psychotherapy or psychiatric evaluation. Explore stress reduction strategies such as diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, mediation, yoga, etc. Provide referrals to other healthcare providers as appropriate.