Medical Students Provide Heart Disease Prevention to Underserved Chicago Communities

Since 2013, Feinberg medical students have provided cardiovascular disease risk assessments and health counseling to underserved community members across Chicago through the Keep Your Heart Healthy (KYHH) program.  

The student-led program aims to lower mortality risk from cardiovascular disease by improving access to healthcare for at-risk community members, offer culturally appropriate health education to empower community members to make informed health decisions, and engage with community partners to address social determinants of health. 

Since its inception, KYHH has screened more than 50,000 individuals from more than 15 communities on Chicago’s South, West and Northwest sides, and has partnered with community health workers and organizations across the city, including the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Greater Humboldt Park Diabetes Empowerment Center. 

 “This program has been wonderful for student education, and it’s provided a basis for the medical students to also do research, but most importantly it’s helping people who need it the most in our communities,” said Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology and former faculty advisor of KYHH. 

This year, KYHH has completed more than 15 site visits at community establishments and events across Chicago to meet participants in their own communities and increase healthcare accessibility, said Emily Lam, a second-year MD/MPH student and president of KYHH.  

“I joined KYHH because I was interested in getting involved in community health. It’s a unique opportunity to connect with community members and listen to their stories, especially outside of the bubble of Streeterville that Feinberg is in,” Lam said.  

The program, which completes two to three site visits a month on Saturdays, is currently on track to screen a total of 400 participants before the end of the year, according to Lam. 

“Another one of our goals is to establish recurring site visits, which will help with sustainability moving forward,” Lam said. “We’ve also worked on establishing partnerships with Rush, UIC, and the University of Chicago to build on the strong initiatives they have in place to promote health outcomes on the South and West sides.” 

During site visits, KYHH student volunteers perform five-to-10-minute health screenings with community members in which students ask participants about their health history and current health behaviors, measure their height, weight and vitals, and discuss what health changes participants would like to make going forward and connecting them with follow-up care. Community members who present with higher risk factors are also referred to federally qualified health centers in their communities, Lam said.  

“This year, almost 10 percent of our participants reported not having a primary medical home, so a really important part is connecting people with that follow-up care, especially if they have elevated blood pressure at the time of the screening,” Lam said. “It’s also thinking about how we can make a lasting impact from just this 10-minute conversation.”  

This year, Lam and her team also implemented additional screening for food insecurity. If participants are identified as living with food insecurity, KYHH student volunteers discuss with participants the eligibility requirements of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and refer participants to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to enroll in SNAP.  

“I recently followed up with a participant who told me that the enrollment process went smoothly and is now receiving food stamps and was super enthusiastic and super grateful. These social services play such a key role in people’s lives and seeing how that plays out has shaped my perspective on patient care,” Lam said.  

“If we can help people access to free, healthier foods through SNAP, that can be transformative for their lives,” Lloyd-Jones said. “It’s a testament to what this program has always been about, which is the initiative of the students, that they care and that they innovate these new ways to help the community.”  

This fall, Nilay Shah, ‘14 MD, ‘14 MPH, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology and of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology, will assume the role of faculty advisor of KYHH.   

A “full circle” moment, Shah and Jasmine Sinha, ‘14 MD, ‘14 MPH, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, co-established KYHH more than 10 years ago when they were third-year medical students at Feinberg.  

“In the 10 years since I was a medical student and finished my training and joined the faculty here, it’s become evidently clear to me that so much of what determines health happens outside of the classroom,” Shah said. “What I envision my role with this program going forward is to really try to broaden the understanding of medical students to recognize that their clinical training is just one part of how we take care of patients.” 

As KYHH’s faculty sponsor, Shah said he looks forward to helping students develop more partnerships with community health workers and organizations and connect community members with the expertise and resources throughout the Northwestern Medicine health system.  

“I strongly believe that as people trained in medicine and as clinicians, we have a voice when it comes to advocating for our communities and for the health of our communities,” Shah said. “I think it’s incumbent on us to make sure that we also bring our resources to the community in a way that is acceptable and invited by our community partners.”