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Increasing
stroke awareness among the Hispanic
community in America is the goal of a new
education program sponsored by the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and
Stroke, part of the National Institutes of
Health
Transcript:
WADDELL: Increasing stroke awareness among the Hispanic community in America is
the goal of a new education program
sponsored by the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of
the National Institutes of Health. As part
of the NINDS campaign known as Know Stroke.
Know the Signs. Act in Time, the program
will work towards raising awareness about
the symptoms of stroke, according to Dr.
Jose G. Merino, staff clinician in the
Section of Stroke Diagnostics and
Therapeutics at NINDS.
MERINO: We are interested in getting the message about brain attack, or stroke,
and knowledge of the symptoms and the
importance of rapid response, to the Latin
community. So, in order to do this, the
NINDS put together a toolbox, which contains
several educational materials that can be
used by health educators out in the
community. These materials are in Spanish,
they include a tape; some visual prompts
that will help get the conversation going
about stroke warning signs and the
importance of calling 911 and getting to the
hospital as soon as possible.
WADDELL:
The toolkit mentioned by Dr. Merino will contain video
testimonials from survivors of stroke, as
well as brochures with helpful information.
Dr. Merino said the campaign is fortunate to
be supported not only by members of the
NINDS, but by supporters of Hispanic health
education as well.
MERINO:
We're partnering with very well known Hispanic organizations, like the
National Council of La Raza and the National
Alliance for Hispanic Health, to use their
resources and their networks to help us get
the message out, so that these organizations
which already are working on health issues,
and have a vast network of clinics and
health educators, can then help us
disseminate our message.
WADDELL: According to Dr. Merino, the Latino community is ideal for this
campaign because, overall, Hispanics have a
higher rate of risk factors that act as
contributors, and increase the likelihood,
of stroke. These risk factors include
smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and
excessive weight. Although this campaign
focuses mainly on the Latino community,
according to Dr. Merino, the slow response
to stroke symptoms is a nation-wide concern.
For more information about the new community
education program, and other stroke
information, call NINDS at 1-800-352-9424,
or visit the Web site at
www.ninds.nih.gov/stroke. From the
National Institutes of Health, I'm Lauren
Waddell in Bethesda, MD.
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