Suzanne Hugues, MSN, RN, deemed "Community Health Advocate"

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Making health education culturally appropriate in the African American community was the topic of this summer’s Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc., Community Health Advocate Training Program in Washington, D.C., attended by Suzanne Hughes, MSN, RN, of Robinson Memorial Hospital. Hughes was one of 144 people nationwide invited to the conference who are working to make a difference in the area of minority health. Hughes serves as the director of Patient and Community Education and Research at Robinson Memorial Hospital. The department is responsible for community health screenings and educational outreach of the hospital. “We hear a lot about health literacy, but a lot of health professionals don’t realize they need to be culturally competent in their education approach,” Hughes said. “There are resources available to make education about healthy eating, exercise and check-ups resonate with minority populations.” Nationwide, 48 percent of African American adults suffer from a chronic disease compared to 39 percent of the total population. “African Americans are also more likely to have high blood pressure than white Americans, and we don’t really understand all the reasons for that,” Hughes said. “Diabetes is also more common in African Americans.” At the three-day conference, Hughes attended 12 different learning units such as “Be Heart Smart! Keep Your Cholesterol in Check,” and “Eat in a Heart Healthy Way – Even When Time or Money is Tight.” She also heard about “Sistas,” a new American Heart Association campaign aimed at preventing heart disease in African American women. In each of the sessions, participants were taught how to successfully deliver these health messages to a minority group. “I’m really looking forward to working with my colleagues at the hospital in implementing the tools that some great people at the national level have developed,” Hughes said. “The conference really rallied the troops to make a difference.”
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