Cristina Mendoza

HLTH 634

Marketing Plan

Executive Overview

The county department of public health promote and protect the health and well-being of

its residents through education, prevention, and intervention. The department uses data and best

practices to ensure high-quality services and programs for the community, and incorporate

strategies into their work to address structural inequities to reduce health disparities. The

county’s Happy Heart Program is designed in preventing and reversing the epidemic of

cardiovascular disease through an effective public health strategy and commitment to its

implementation.

Scholars have conducted numerous studies and learned that a person’s risk for heart

disease is greater when they consume animal protein.1 Individuals who consume a diet regimen

consisted with saturated fats, trans fat, cholesterol, and salt has been connected to heart disease.2

CDC estimated there are about 18.2 million people who are 20 years and over who have

coronary artery disease.3

The Hap-pea Heart Program will be a series of whole food plant-based (WFPB) nutrition

webinar classes, whose goal is to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease in Thornfield

County. The following objectives include:

 After two weeks, 50% of the participants will be able to explain at least 2 benefits of the

WFPB nutrition, as measured by the individuals’ participation during class discussion.

 After one month, 50% of the participants will have learned what foods to eat, limit, and

avoid on a WFPB diet, as measured by their food journal.

  At the end of the program, at least 75% of the participants will have learned culinary

techniques in making their meals, as measured by their food journal.

 After three months, at least 75% of the participants will have reduced their risks for heart

disease, as measured by their blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar, and weight

status.

The short-term outcome includes educating the community and spreading awareness

about the risk factors of heart disease and the benefits and methods of WFPB nutrition. The long-

term outcome includes reversing and preventing heart disease, improving blood pressure, blood

cholesterol, and blood glucose levels, reducing waist circumference, and reaching a healthy

weight.

Customers

In a WFPB for healthy heart, those who are at high risk of developing heart disease are

the primary target audience. A person’s risk varies on many factors. Risk factors are conditions

or lifestyle that increases a person’s risk in developing a disease. A person’s risk of acquiring

heart disease increases when they lack physical activity and consume a diet high in saturated fats,

trans fat, and cholesterol.2 Regular physical activity conditions the heart to pump blood to the

rest of the body, lowers blood pressure, and decreases low-density lipoprotein (LDL)

cholesterol.4 Saturated fats are from animal sources such as butter, cheese, and fatty meats.5

Trans-fat includes foods that contain partially hydrogenated oils such as desserts, microwaveable

popcorn, frozen foods, and coffee creamers.5 Consuming foods high in saturated fats, trans-fat,

and cholesterol have all been connected to atherosclerosis.2

Heart disease is the underlying cause of mortality for most ethnic groups including

African Americans, American Indians, and white people.2 While Asian Americans, Pacific
Islanders, and Hispanics are second only to cancer.2 Also, researchers learned that a Southern

diet regiment characterized with added fats, fried foods, eggs, processed meats, and sugar-

sweetened beverages was connected with the incidence of acute coronary heart disease.6

Genetics and family history also plays a part in high blood pressure, heart disease, and

other related conditions.2 It is common that people with a family history of heart disease share

some common environmental factors that contribute to their increased risk of heart disease.2 The

risk further increases when combined with unhealthy lifestyle choices and behaviors such as

consuming an unhealthy diet or smoking.2 Lastly, evidence shows that depression, anxiety,

stress, and also PTSD could develop physiologic effects on the body that includes increased

cardiac activity, decreased blood flow to the heart, and increased levels of cortisol.7 Gradually,

these symptoms can cause calcium accumulation in the arteries, obesity, diabetes, and heart

disease.7

Product

In this proposed intervention program, plant-based health education for healthy hearts

will be available to anyone in the community and promoted in college campuses, community

hospitals, and community clinics. Webinar classes will be established once a week for three

months. It will be designed for people diagnosed with heart disease, at risk for heart disease, and

anybody pursuing to improve their heart health. The following topics will include:

 Prevalence of heart disease

 What is WFPB nutrition?

 Benefits of WFPB lifestyle for heart health (evidenced-based research)

 Foods to eat, foods to limit, and foods to avoid.

 Culinary techniques and meal planning

  Additional recipes

Strategies

The Hap-pea Heart Program will position its program by the advantages and educational

classes it offers and emphasize its program on the many health benefits of a WFPB diet including

prevention and reversal of heart disease risk factors, the easy step-by-step recipes that can help

individuals cook their meals and delight their taste buds, the affordability of WFPB meal

planning, and the accessibility of the program to everyone in the community. To set this program

apart from other programs it will cover evidenced-based research and tools on how to follow the

WFPB lifestyle, and provide weekly videos on new recipes, videos on interviews, and tips about

WFPB nutrition with Dr. Barnard and other medical experts from the Physicians Committee for

Responsible Medicine (PCRM), and weekly assessment of participants’ food journal, weight,

blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol level.

In California, any state programs and benefits require households to a maximum gross of

200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).8 Hence, for this proposed program, households will be

subjected to gross monthly income eligibility. The program will be free of cost to those whose

income is within the 200% of the FPL. Anyone who does not qualify based on their income will

be charged $10 per month to cover the cost of managing a Zoom webinar. Any additional costs

not covered by the participants will be sponsored by the Thornfield County Department of Public

Health.

A health communication strategy will be used to create awareness, change attitude,

encourage, and motivate individuals who are at risk or diagnosed with heart disease or anybody

desiring to improve their heart health. To reach the target population, brochures will be

distributed to the community hospitals, clinics, and colleges, fitness centers, and local
pharmacies. The link to the Hap-pea Heart blog will also be placed on the Thornfield County

Department of Public Health and on the community hospitals to allow people to gain access to a

wide array of valuable information about WFPB nutrition, why it matters, the program’s goals,

services, and contact information.

Budget

The one-year projection cost includes:

Zoom webinar 400

Brochures (500 pieces from Staples) 230

Weekly groceries for demonstration (75wk x 52) 3900

Blood pressure monitor 40

Glucose test kit 30

Glucose test strips (100 pieces=$20) 320

Cholesterol test kit ($20 x 30patricipants x 52weeks) 31200

Subtotals 36120

Totals 36120

With an average of 30 participants for every three months and with a weekly meeting to

assess measurements and food journal, the Zoom webinar cost $400 per year, printing 500

brochures cost $230, weekly groceries for demonstration cost an average of $75 and for 52

weeks cost $3900, the blood pressure monitor cost an average of $40, the glucose test kit cost

$30, then the glucose test strips for 30 participants for 52 weeks equals to 1560 strips and 1560

divided 100 (strips in one box) equals to 15.6 rounded to 16 boxes multiply by $20 equals to

$320. Lastly, the cholesterol test kit cost $31200 for 30 participants for 52 weeks. The subtotal

and overall cost equals to $36120.

 References

1. Campbell TC, Campbell TM. The China Study Revised and Expanded Edition: The Most

Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet,

Weight Loss and Long-Term Health. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, Inc.; 2016.

2. Know your risk for heart disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/risk_factors.htm. Last reviewed December 9, 2019. Accessed

March 1, 2021.

3. Heart disease facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm. Last reviewed September 8, 2020. Accessed March

1, 2021.

4. What’s the link between physical activity and health? American Heart Association.

https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cardiac-rehab/getting-physically-active/whats-the-link-

between-physical-activity-and-health. Last reviewed March 31, 2016. Accessed March 2, 2021.

5. Heart-Healthy Living. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/heart-healthy-living. Accessed March 2, 2021.

6. Shikany J, Stafford M, Newby P, et al. Southern dietary pattern is associated with hazard of

acute coronary heart disease in the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke

(Regards) study. American Heart Assoc. 2015;132(9):804-814.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.014421. Published

August 10, 2015. Accessed March 2, 2021.

7. Heart disease and mental health disorders. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/mentalhealth.htm. Last reviewed May 6, 2020. Accessed

March 3, 2021.
8. Eligibility and issuance requirements. California Department of Social Services.

https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/cdss-programs/calfresh/eligibility-and-issuance-

requirements#poverty. Accessed March 3, 2021.