Awareness Campaigns

Family Health History - Know Your Risk

The WA State Department of Health website shares the importance of gathering and sharing your family health history, including conditions affecting relatives across generations. These actions help individuals and their healthcare providers identify inherited risk patterns and tailor prevention and screening strategies. 

2025 Diabetes Awareness Month Toolkit

November is Diabetes Awareness Month with World Diabetes Day on November 14.  In Washington alone, about 600,000 adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, and an estimated 2 million people are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The leading cause of death for people with diabetes is cardiovascular disease, and people with diabetes are at increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Diabetes affects the lives of families, workplaces, and communities.

The World Diabetes Day theme for 2025 is diabetes in the workplace.  We updated our Diabetes Toolkit to reflect this message with appropriate posts and a library of social media visuals to choose from.  

Washington Blue Band Initiative

The Blue Band Initiative is an effort to alert health care providers about a patient's risk for preeclampsia. Patients who are at risk of developing preeclampsia or having elevated blood pressure after giving birth, will wear a blue wrist band during pregnancy and after delivery of their babies. 

Live to the Beat Campaign

Million Hearts^® collaborated with the CDC Foundation to develop the “Live to the Beat” campaign, which aims to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Black adults ages 35 to 54.

• Talk Pressure: A Healthcare Professional's Guide to Hypertension Communication - Evidence based messaging to explain hypertension and motivate action
• Live to the Beat Resource Catalog shares promotional messages and educational resources

National Stroke Month and National High Blood Pressure Month

Each May is an ideal time to raise awareness about stroke and high blood pressure, and the connections between the two. Here are resources that to help with communications in May and all year. Also, be sure to check out the campaigns below for images, videos, social media messages and more.

• Washington State Department of Health's Stroke Communications Resources
• Stroke Month resources from American Heart Association - For Professionals
• High Blood Pressure Awareness from American Heart Association - for General Public
• CDC's High Blood Pressure Communications Toolkit
• High Blood Pressure Social Media Resources and Publications from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
• Information on the connection between cognitive decline and hypertension from the Alzheimer's Association - What's Good for the Heart is Good for the Brain (PDF)

Get Down With Your Blood Pressure Campaign

This high-energy campaign from Ad Council, the American Heart Association, and the American Medical Association has videos, radio ads, print ads and more in Spanish and English. The ads feature a diverse group of dancers to upbeat original music. The campaign is meant for a general audience.

Release the Pressure Campaign

ESSENCE hosts the "Release the Pressure" campaign aimed at partnering with Black women to improve their heart health and be part of a movement for healthy blood pressure—the leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Together, the AMA, the AMA Foundation, Association of Black Cardiologists, American Heart Association, Minority Health Institute and National Medical Association launched the “Release the Pressure” campaign to provide Black women with resources to identify and track their blood pressure numbers, as well as develop a wellness plan with existing personal support systems of family and friends to manage their heart health virtually.