Integrating Million Hearts into Nursing and Interprofessional Educational Curricula and Community Settings: A Key Strategy for Improving Population Health across the United States

Million Hearts is a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017 by screening and educating the public on the “ABCS” of cardiovascular health. Million Hearts is an innovative platform for educating nursing and health sciences students on the importance of population health and interprofessional teamwork. The National Interprofessional Education and Practice Consortium to Advance Million Hearts was created, and a free on-line educational module was developed to help health care professionals and health sciences faculty and students learn about the Million Hearts initiative, conduct community screenings, and refer people who screen positive to appropriate resources. After completion of the module, individuals receive certification as a Million Hearts Fellow. More than 2,500 individuals from 80 colleges across the United States have accessed the module. More than 20,000 people have been screened. The module and screenings have been incorporated into health sciences curricula and community activities. Academic institutions and health science professions partnering together as part of the National Interprofessional Education and Practice Consortium to Advance Million Hearts provide a unique opportunity to demonstrate the impact that a unified approach can have on improving population health through the use of screening, education, and prevention.