Top Things to Know: Implementation of Evidence Based Behavioral Interventions for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Community Settings
Published: August 04, 2025
Prepared by Paul J. Chase, PhD
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention needs to extend beyond health care settings into community environments to improve population health and advance health for all people.
- Community-based settings, such as faith-based organizations, schools, workplaces and social service settings are ideal for implementing CVD prevention interventions.
- This scientific statement reviews current evidence based on a four-step framework for identifying barriers, selecting, adapting, and implementing cardiovascular health evidence-based practices (EBPs) in community settings.
- A variety of organizations such as afterschool programs, barbershops, and community-based organizations can implement EBPs.
- Faith-based organizations are highly influential in promoting health behavior change, particularly in Hispanic and African American communities, by integrating public health and faith messaging.
- Education settings offer opportunities to promote cardiovascular health among children and youth, with evidence supporting interventions that improve diet, physical activity, and sleep.
- Workplaces provide a structured environment for implementing evidence-based behavioral cardiovascular health interventions, though the impact of remote work post-COVID-19 needs to be considered.
- EBPs are selected and culturally adapted through community engagement, particularly in faith-based and social service settings, to improve cardiovascular health-related behaviors.
- Successful implementation requires strategies that consider the specific context and needs of each community setting, including alignment with the setting’s mission, workflow, time, and priorities.
- There is a need for high-quality studies that explicitly compare well-specified implementation strategies for behavioral EBPs across various community settings to determine the most effective, sustainable, and scalable approaches.
Citation
Tabak RG, Kandula NR, Angell SY, Brewer LPC, Grandner M, Hayman LL, Ing C, Joseph JJ, Moise N, Nelson SE, Tran AH; on behalf of the American Heart Association Implementation Science Committee of the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention; Council on Clinical Cardiology; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research; and Stroke Council.
Implementation of evidence-based behavioral interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention in community settings: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. Published online August 4, 2025. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001349