By: Ashmar Mandou

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women among the Latino population in the U.S.; from 2015 to 2018, 52.3 percent of Latino men and 42.7 percent of Latina women ages 20 years and older had heart disease. In an effort to increase awareness among the Latino community in Cook County, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller released her “Cardiovascular Health in the Southland” report in Spanish, which investigates the impacts of location and race of the disease and outcomes in suburban Cook County. The report aims to educate residents on the signs, symptoms, risks of cardiovascular disease, prevention measures, and how to improve outcomes of cardiac events through CPR training. Commissioner Miller spoke with Lawndale Bilingual News about the key takeaways of the “Cardiovascular Health in the Southland” report and how cardiovascular related conversations can drive the Latino community to make significant health changes.

Lawndale Bilingual News: You spearheaded the “Cardiovascular Health in the Southland” report last spring. What prompted you to raise awareness about cardiovascular related diseases?

Commissioner Donna Miller: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in not only the state of Illinois and the entire country, but in Cook County and the Sixth District. We also know that it is an issue that does not affect all communities equally, so I wanted to take a look at where high death rates from cardiovascular disease were occurring in the Sixth District to identify where we can work to improve outcomes in both the short and the long term. There are real changes that can be made to improve these health outcomes – whether it be expanding access to healthy food, encouraging exercise and staying up-to-date on routine medical care, or training more community members on bystander AED/CPR training – so by understanding where these patterns are, we can better direct our resources and efforts.

Sadly, the pandemic placed a spotlight on the health disparities impacting Black and Latino communities; how do you hope this report changes the conversation around heart disease among those impacted and their healthcare providers?

Data shows that heart disease is highest in Black and Latino communities. In fact, nearly half of all non-Hispanic African American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease. This contributed to why the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino communities, as they were more likely to have these pre-existing conditions that made COVID deadly. My hope with this report is that we can understand where this problem is the greatest, especially for Black women, and then start making progress to address it through improving three key social determinants of health: greater access to high-quality healthcare, enhanced food security, and improving the built environment and increasing active transportation.

“Cardiovascular Health in the Southland” was recently translated into Spanish in an effort to increase access among the Latino community and with February being American Heart Health, what takeaways do you hope the Latino community gain from reading this report

I hope Latino communities gain the in-depth knowledge they need to focus on the issue of cardiovascular health, especially as they have conversations with their own healthcare providers. The instances of cardiovascular disease may actually be underreported, particularly among women, based on how they are being reported, so I want to empower people with the information they need to have educated, productive conversations with their own doctors. I also hope they gain an understanding of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease that they can help prevent in their own lives, including eating healthier, exercising more, cutting out tobacco, and monitoring their blood pressure and cholesterol.

Additionally, since it is American Heart Month, I hope everyone takes this opportunity to seek out CPR/AED bystander training. Having CPR initiated by a bystander when someone is suffering from cardiac arrest can almost double or triple their chances of survival, but African Americans and Hispanics are 30-50 percent less likely to have bystander CPR performed when suffering from a cardiac event than white adults. Women are also less likely to receive bystander CPR because people fear accusations of inappropriate touching, sexual assault, or injuring the person, with only 39 percent of women receiving bystander CPR in public compared to 45 percent of men. I’ve implemented in-person CPR and AED training and virtual CPR and AED training for Cook County employees because of this importance, and anyone interested can visit the American Heart Association’s website to find training near you.

As Commissioner what projects or programs would you like to see come to fruition in relation to promoting a healthy heart?

The number one thing I would like to see is more widespread adoption of CPR/AED training in communities across the county and the state. Having CPR initiated by a bystander when someone is suffering from cardiac arrest can almost double or triple their chances of survival, so this is something everyone can do to help save lives. And we all have a role to play in making sure ourselves and our loved ones know what to do in a cardiac crisis. That’s why as Cook County Commissioner, I’ve helped implement in-person CPR/AED training and virtual CPR/AED training for Cook County employees. Hundreds of employees along with elected officials and department heads have taken part in the “Hands-Only” CPR/AED training, and we’re looking forward to another training this month.

Additionally, I led legislation that requires the Cook County Department of Public Health and Cook County Health to present a healthcare disparities analysis to the Health and Hospitals Committee of the Cook County Board semi-annually that also outlines what they are doing to improve these outcomes. Inevitably, heart disease is going to rise to the top of these analyses, so I look forward to collaborating with other key stakeholders to understand what programs, education initiatives, and other work we can put into place so we can improve outcomes for future generations, especially black women where incidence is higher.