Linkage, Empowerment, and Access to Prevent Hypertension: A Novel Program to Prevent Hypertension and Reduce Cardiovascular Health Disparities in Detroit, Michigan.

BACKGROUND: Serious cardiovascular health disparities persist across the United States, disproportionately affecting Black communities. Mounting evidence supports negative social determinants of health (SDoH) as contributing factors to a higher prevalence of hypertension along with lower control rates. Here, we describe a first-of-a-kind approach to reducing health disparities by focusing on preventing hypertension in Black adults with elevated blood pressure (BP) living in socially vulnerable communities. METHODS AND RESULTS: Linkage, Empowerment, and Access to Prevent Hypertension (LEAP-HTN) is part of the RESTORE (Addressing Social Determinants to Prevent Hypertension) health equity research network. The trial will test if a novel intervention reduces systolic BP (primary outcome) and prevents the onset of hypertension over 1 year versus usual care in 500 Black adults with elevated BP (systolic BP 120-129 mm Hg; diastolic BP <80 mm Hg) in Detroit, Michigan. LEAP-HTN leverages our groundbreaking platform using geospatial health and social vulnerability data to direct the deployment of mobile health units (MHUs) to communities of greatest need. All patients are referred to primary care providers. Trial participants in the active limb will receive additional collaborative care delivered remotely by community health workers using an innovative strategy termed pragmatic, personalized, adaptable approaches to lifestyle, and life circumstances (PAL2) which mitigates the impact of negative SDoH. CONCLUSIONS: LEAP-HTN aims to prevent hypertension by improving access and linkage to care while mitigating negative SDoH. This novel approach could represent a sustainable and scalable strategy to overcoming health disparities in socially vulnerable communities across the United States.

AddREssing Social Determinants TO pRevent hypErtension (The RESTORE Network): Overview of the Health Equity Research Network to Prevent Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: The American Heart Association funded a Health Equity Research Network on the prevention of hypertension, the RESTORE Network, as part of its commitment to achieving health equity in all communities. This article provides an overview of the RESTORE Network. METHODS: The RESTORE Network includes five independent, randomized trials testing approaches to implement non-pharmacological interventions that have been proven to lower blood pressure (BP). The trials are community-based, taking place in churches in rural Alabama, mobile health units in Michigan, barbershops in New York, community health centers in Maryland, and food deserts in Massachusetts. Each trial employs a hybrid effectiveness-implementation research design to test scalable and sustainable strategies that mitigate social determinants of health (SDOH) that contribute to hypertension in Black communities. The primary outcome in each trial is change in systolic BP. The RESTORE Network Coordinating Center has five cores: BP measurement, statistics, intervention, community engagement, and training that support the trials. Standardized protocols, data elements and analysis plans were adopted in each trial to facilitate cross-trial comparisons of the implementation strategies, and application of a standard costing instrument for health economic evaluations, scale up, and policy analysis. Herein, we discuss future RESTORE Network research plans and policy outreach activities designed to advance health equity by preventing hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: The RESTORE Network was designed to promote health equity in the US by testing effective and sustainable implementation strategies focused on addressing SDOH to prevent hypertension among Black adults.