Community Action Tool Kit
Chapter 1: Stay in Circulation Campaign Overview

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This campaign overview provides you with information about the national Stay in Circulation:  Take Steps to Learn About P.A.D. campaign.  You can use this information when talking about the campaign with the media or other organizations.

The Stay in Circulation Campaign
Stay in Circulation:  Take Steps to Learn About P.A.D. is the first national awareness campaign to increase public and health care provider awareness about peripheral arterial disease (P.A.D.) and its association with increased risk for other cardiovascular diseases.  Adults over age 50—the campaign's primary audience—are at risk for P.A.D.  Stepping up awareness of P.A.D. among the target audience and the health care community will help keep Americans active and healthy so they can continue spending time with their families and friends and participating in the activities they enjoy.

Stay in Circulation is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in cooperation with the P.A.D. Coalition, an alliance of national organizations and professional societies concerned with raising awareness about P.A.D.

Campaign Goals
The overarching goal of Stay in Circulation is to increase public and health care provider awareness about P.A.D. and its association with other cardiovascular diseases.  More specifically, the campaign's goals are to:

• Increase public and health care provider awareness about P.A.D. and its association with higher risk for heart attack, stroke, amputation, and death;
• Increase prevention and early detection among general and at-risk populations; and
• Improve P.A.D.-related health behaviors and the health status of the target audiences.

Campaign Audiences
Primary Audiences

• Men and women over the age of 50;
• African American men and women over the age of 50; and
• Health care providers who treat the above populations, including primary clinicians (e.g., family physicians, internists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants), as well as vascular surgeons, vascular medicine specialists, cardiologists, gerontologists, interventional radiologists, and podiatrists, and other specialists who may be well positioned to first recognize P.A.D.

Secondary Audiences

• Hispanic Americans over the age of 50; and
• Individuals from the general public over age 40 with one or more risk factor(s).

Campaign Partners
By using this Community Action Tool Kit to raise awareness about P.A.D. in your community, you are one of our valued campaign partners.

Stay in Circulation was developed by NHLBI in cooperation with the P.A.D. Coalition, a group of more than 40 national organizations and professional societies concerned with raising awareness about P.A.D.  The P.A.D. Coalition seeks to improve the prevention, early detection, treatment, and rehabilitation of people with, or at risk for, P.A.D.

The campaign is also working to secure partnerships with:

• National nonprofit organizations reinforced at the local level to extend the campaign's reach and message, and
• Corporate entities to expand resources and enhance the visibility of Stay in Circulation.

About P.A.D.
In the United States, more than eight million Americans suffer from P.A.D.—hardening of the arteries (also known as "atherosclerosis") in the limbs that is associated with the traditional risk factors of heart disease. P.A.D. is a common and treatable disease that is on the rise among midlife and older Americans.  However, P.A.D. is still largely unknown, too often underdetected by health care providers and regarded by many as an inevitable consequence of aging.

P.A.D. can rob people of their independence and mobility by making walking difficult or, worse, by increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, amputation, or even death.  Prevention, detection, and treatment can keep people active and healthy so that they can continue to spend time with their family and friends and participate in the activities they enjoy.

P.A.D. does not always present symptoms.  In fact, many of those with P.A.D. do not experience obvious symptoms. People who are at risk for P.A.D. include anyone over the age of 50, especially African Americans; those who smoke or have smoked; and those who have diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, or a personal or family history of vascular disease, heart attack, or stroke.  People under the age of 50 with diabetes and one other cardiovascular risk factor are also at risk.

Campaign Materials
The campaign offers a wide variety of resources to help individuals and local communities take steps to prevent P.A.D. The following materials can be downloaded from the campaign Web page, www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/pad.

• Educational materials in English and Spanish for individuals to learn about P.A.D. and how to reduce their risk;
• Posters and print public service announcements in English and Spanish;
• Radio public service announcements in English and Spanish; and
• An educational DVD featuring real people's stories about living with P.A.D.

Campaign Activities
Activities to support the Stay in Circulation campaign are aimed at increasing awareness of P.A.D. and include:

• Stay in Circulation Week, the first annual observance marked by local screenings, events, and promotions to prompt Americans to:
  • Learn about P.A.D.;
  • Talk to their health care providers about P.A.D.;
  • Visit the campaign web page www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/pad, for information, including questions to ask their health care providers; and
  • Support P.A.D. screenings and other campaign related events in their community.
• National and Local Media Outreach, including a satellite media tour for television and radio outlets in more than 20 markets with enhanced, coordinated outreach efforts in three key markets.
• National and Local Partnership Development, that includes collaborations with national, nonprofit, community-based, and private sector organizations that can foster cross-promotional opportunities and increase access to media, promotional and distribution channels, and association with well-known and respected brands relevant to Stay in Circulation target audiences.
• Education and Outreach to Health Care Providers.  Through the P.A.D. Coalition, the Stay in Circulation campaign will ensure that health care providers who treat those at risk for P.A.D. have the materials and resources needed to talk to their patients about P.A.D. and what steps they can take to lower their risk.