Duke Center for Health Informatics: Heart Healthy U: A Pilot amid a Pandemic

Seminar Abstract: Today's presentation is based on a one-year multimedia campaign pilot that was implemented on a college campus to increase awareness about the importance of heart health among the student population. The campaign, Heart Healthy U, focused on nutrition and physical activity because research indicates that the transition into emerging adulthood is an ideal opportunity to intervene to modify unhealthy behaviors that would otherwise lead to cardio-metabolic risk factors for heart disease. However, although the campaign was compromised due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was also updated to include psychological well-being/stress management to address the consequences of physical distancing, social isolation, and stay-at-home orders. Instructor Biosketch: Dr. LaShawn Wordlaw trains undergraduate students to become entry-level health educators in communities at the local, state, national, and international level. She completed a BA in Sociology at Grambling State University (Louisiana), an MA and PhD in Sociology at Wayne State University (Michigan), and earned a graduate certificate in Community Health Services Research and Evaluation from Wayne's School of Medicine. As a medical sociologist, she studies how the social environment influences health behavior and health outcomes. She has been teaching in the Department of Public Health Education at NCCU for the last 16 years. Her courses include: Personal Health, Health Behavior, Medical Sociology, Introduction to Global Health, and Women's Health. Prior to joining NCCU, she conducted program evaluations as a research health analyst at RTI, International (RTP). Zoom Meeting link: https://duke.zoom.us/j/92005527024?pwd=azFIZmlNdVJiOVVjN0djNWRiT0wzdz09 Meeting number (access code) 920 0552 7024, Meeting password: 128631