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Research and Planning Writing Assignment:

Adding Women’s Heart Health to The Rose- Non-Profit Breast Healthcare Organization

Andrea Tantillo

COM 60511, Purdue University

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the

leading cause of death for African American and white women in the United States. For Hispanic

women, heart disease and cancer deaths are roughly the same, and for American Indian or Alaska

Native and Asian or Pacific Islander women, heart disease is second to cancer as the leading cause of

death (2017). In 2013, a total of 289,758 women died from heart disease (Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, 2017). Compare this to 273,430 cancer deaths among U.S. women, 39,620 from breast

cancer (American Cancer Society, 2013, p. 4). According to the CDC, risk factors for heart disease

include diabetes, obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use (2017).

The Rose

The Rose is the leading non-profit breast healthcare organization in Houston and southeast

Texas. Our mission is to provide screening and diagnostic services to uninsured and underinsured

women. Funding for these services is provided by revenue from paying patients, grants, and donations.

Since 1986, we have served close to 500,000 patients (The Rose, n.d.). Women who benefit from the

services at The Rose will also benefit from a program focusing on heart health.

Proposal

The CDC’s WISEWOMAN (Well-Integrated Screening Evaluation for WOMen Across the

Nation) program, administered through the Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, works

with low-income women between the ages of 40 and 64 who are uninsured or underinsured to help

them understand and reduce their risk for heart disease and stroke by promoting healthy lifestyles

(2018-a). In 2017, WISEWOMAN programs were active in 20 U.S. states, but not Texas (2018-b). I

recommend that we begin providing WISEWOMAN resources and tools to promote heart health

among all women, particularly breast cancer patients and survivors.

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Key audiences for this program and campaign are women visiting our two clinics in Houston or

mobile mammography clinics around the region; women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer

at The Rose and who remain in touch with us for treatment sponsorship options; and breast cancer

survivors, particularly those regularly attending support groups we sponsor and promote.

According to the American Community Survey (2016), there are almost a million women age

40 to 64 living in the Houston-Woodlands Metropolitan Statistical Area who will benefit from this

partnership. The overlap in both audience and risk factors1 makes a partnership between The Rose and

WISEWOMAN a perfect match.

This partnership will give women a reason to visit our clinics more often to receive lifestyle

tips and attend wellness classes, in addition to visiting the clinics for their annual mammograms.

Women receiving ongoing benefits from The Rose and WISEWOMAN will see an increased value in

both programs and will be more likely to recommend the programs to their friends and family and

financially contribute to both programs (Blakeman, 2015, p. 9).

Conclusion

Partnering with the CDC to be the first healthcare organization in Texas to launch the

WISEWOMAN program, The Rose will not only lead the way in breast healthcare, but will also lead

the way in women’s heart healthcare.

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The CDC lists risk factors for breast cancer as being overweight, having a family history with breast cancer, having an
inactive lifestyle, and excessive alcohol use. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/risk_factors.htm
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References

American Cancer Society. (2013). Cancer Facts and Figures 2013. Retrieved from

American Community Survey. (2016). 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-year estimates.
Retrieved from
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_16_5Y
R_B01001&prodType=table

Blakeman, R. (2015). Integrated marketing communication: Creative strategy from idea to

implementation (2nd ed.). London, UK: Rowman & Littlefield.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Women and Heart Disease Fact Sheet. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_women_heart.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018-a). WISEWOMAN. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/wisewoman/index.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018-a). WISEWOMAN locations. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/wisewoman/locations/index.htm

The Rose. (n.d.). Our history & mission. Retreived from https://www.therose.org/about-us/our-history-
mission/