Chronic Disease Action Team
The Chronic Disease Prevention Action Team of the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership brings together community organizations and residents to coordinate local action around chronic disease prevention and control. A chronic condition is a health condition or disease that is long-term and affects a person’s quality of life over time. Chronic illnesses included heart disease, cancer, stroke, lung diseases such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and diabetes. Many chronic diseases are caused by a shortlist of risk behaviors including unhealthy eating, inactive living, and tobacco use. Partners are implementing strategies that promote healthy eating, active living, and tobacco free living in St. Mary’s County.
Get involved – New members are always welcome to join the Chronic Disease Prevention action team! To be notified of upcoming events and meetings, please sign up for membership in the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership and indicate “Chronic Disease Prevention” as your interest!
Example Objectives and Indicators
While numerous chronic disease issues are being addressed in the Healthy St. Mary’s 2026 Plan, two objectives with associated indicators are presented here: ‘
- Emergency department visits for diabetes-related complications may signify that the disease is uncontrolled (Figure 1). Poorly controlled or untreated diabetes can lead to complications such as leg or foot amputations, vision loss, and kidney damage. Many of the team’s evidence-based strategies support diabetes management which improves health and quality of life alongside reducing the risk for diabetes-related complications.
- Heart disease is the second leading cause of death in St. Mary’s County and the leading cause of death in the state of Maryland. Heart disease can often be prevented by controlling risk factors such as high blood pressure. Reducing the rate of Emergency Department visits due to hypertension (Figure 2) will be an indicator of successful implementation of many of the team’s evidence-based strategies to improve cardiovascular health.
Figure 1. Rate of Emergency Department Visits Due to Diabetes
Figure 2. Rate of Emergency Department Visits Due to Hypertension
