A community approach to improving heart health

Katrina Umback is a regional heart health advocate who has spent years campaigning for better access to cardiovascular care in regional Australia. Her advocacy began in 2019, when her husband Scott died suddenly from a heart attack at just 42.

Fit, active and a marathon runner, Scott did not fit the picture of someone at risk of heart disease. When he became critically unwell in Mildura, he needed emergency care that was not available locally and was awaiting transport when he died.

Katrina was left with questions. Could his cardiovascular risk have been identified earlier? And why should living hundreds of kilometres from emergency care affect someone's chance of survival?

Those questions became a catalyst for advocacy, from better access to emergency cardiac treatment in Mildura to greater focus on prevention and early detection.

Today, Katrina is helping turn that advocacy into action through the Heart Health Check Community Project, working alongside La Trobe researchers, local healthcare providers and community organisations to test new ways of making heart health checks more accessible to people in rural and regional communities.

Bringing heart health closer to home

For many people in regional Australia, long waits, travel, cost and competing work and family commitments can make healthcare difficult to access. Completing a heart health assessment can require multiple appointments with different healthcare providers over several weeks.

"Sometimes the barrier isn't the assessment itself; it's the way we expect people to access it," Katrina says.

Led by La Trobe researcher Associate Professor Simon Egerton, the project is exploring a more proactive approach, bringing heart health screening to people at home or through their local pharmacy.

"The main barrier is access to care, access to care in a way that is simple, time efficient and cost effective," Simon says.

The model aims to simplify the initial check, allowing participants to complete a baseline heart assessment using the Australian cardiovascular disease risk calculator and be referred to their doctor if needed.

With national engagement in heart health assessments at around only one per cent, the project is investigating how meeting people where they are could help more people act on their cardiovascular risk.

Research with the community

As the project's Community Engagement Coordinator, Katrina has helped take the research beyond traditional healthcare settings, connecting with people at sporting clubs, workplaces and community events.

"For me, this project demonstrates the value of research being done with rural communities from beginning to end, rather than being simply about them," Katrina says.

Local organisations have played an important role. The Rotary Clubs of Mildura Deakin, Irymple and Mildura Merbein have generously supported the project through financial investment, advocacy, and participation in its co-design.

For Mildura Deakin Rotary, the project demonstrates what happens when a community invests in addressing an issue that affects so many people.

"Heart disease isn't something that happens to strangers. Many of us know someone who has experienced a heart attack, lost a loved one, or is currently managing heart disease," says Rotary Club representative Nardia Sheriff.

The project also stood out because it addressed a local challenge with a solution being developed alongside the community.

"What resonated with our club was the combination of a very local issue and a solution that had been developed with the community rather than for the community," she says.

"Local people can be part of solving local challenges."

From Mildura to beyond

Simon says early findings show that people are receptive to the approach, with many participants comfortable completing a heart health check at home.

If the model proves effective, the research could help inform how preventative heart healthcare is delivered across regional Australia, giving people more accessible ways to identify cardiovascular risk before it becomes a health emergency.

For Katrina, the project is the result of the community advocacy that helped bring the research to Mildura in the first place.

She thinks about Scott, their two sons and the families who might be spared a similar experience if cardiovascular risk can be identified earlier.

Scott lived by the motto, "when you know better, you do better". For Katrina, the project is a way of carrying that legacy forward through research that could help other families.

"That’s ultimately what early detection gives people: the opportunity to act before something happens."

This research is being conducted by the Digital Health for Rural Equity and Innovation research theme through the Violet Vines Marshman Centre for Rural Health Research, part of La Trobe Rural Health School.

Images

Mildura Heart Health Check team (left side image):

Front row (from left): Nat Symes, Dawn Johnston, Nardia Sheriff, Louise Deroon, Dr Damilola Adu, Alara Basibuyuk, Lynde Adams, Elvira Mazza, Elaine Mead Gregory, Margie Murphy, Karen Tankard and Bronwyn Walker.

Back row (from left): James Petersen, Jacob McEwan, Mike Mooney, Associate Professor Simon Egerton, Alex Elfeki, Richard Baker and Brian Munro.

Bendigo Heart Health Check team (bottom right image):

(From left), Dr Fiona Dangerfield, Kevin Dole (Managing Director, Bendigo Telco and industry partner), Emeritus Professor Joe Tucci, Associate Professor Simon Egerton, Associate Professor Carina Chan, Professor Leigh Kinsman, Dr Emma Cordon, Associate Professor Lisa Hanson and Associate Professor Brett Gordon.

Heart Health Check Champions and sponsors (top right image):

Front row (from left): Elvira Mazza (Secretary, Rotary Club of Mildura Deakin), Lynde Adams (Joint President, Rotary Club of Mildura Deakin) and Nardia Sheriff (Member, Rotary Club of Mildura Deakin).

Back row (from left): Brian Munro (Member, Rotary Club of Mildura Merbein), Col Gowers (President, Rotary Club of Irymple), Mike Mooney (Member, Rotary Club of Mildura Deakin) and Richard Baker (Owner, Total Tools Mildura).