Policy Resources

Find fact sheets, reports, guides, and other tools for health professionals and state health departments on heart disease and stroke policies.

State Policy Analysis

A Summary of Primary Stroke Center Policy in the United States Cdc-pdf[PDF-2M]
This summary provides an overview laws and regulations related to primary stroke centers in the United States through mid-2010. It includes a summary and synthesis of policy action across states as well as an individual report for each state.
A Summary of Public Access Defibrillation Laws, United States, 2010
This summary reviews each state’s legal requirements for recommended public access defibrillation(PAD) program elements and concludes that PAD programs in many states are at risk of failure because critical elements such as maintenance, medical oversight, emergency medical service notification, and continuous quality improvement are not required. The summary suggests that policy makers consider strengthening PAD policies by enacting laws that can reduce the time from collapse to shock, such as requiring the strategic placement of AEDs in high-risk locations or mandatory PAD registries that are coordinated with local EMS and dispatch centers.

State Law Fact Sheets

Law can serve as an important tool in improving public health.¹ State Law Fact Sheets describe the scientific evidence in support of particular legal interventions and describe the extent to which states have enacted such laws. Such information can be useful to state and local public health practitioners, researchers, and decision makers.

Policy Evidence Assessment Reports

Evidence-based policy can be used to prevent, control, and improve the outcomes of chronic disease. These reports aim to inform researchers, evaluators, and practitioners about the strengths and limitations of the evidence bases for individual components of chronic disease policy.

Stroke Systems of Care: Policy Evidence Assessment Reports
Access policy evidence assessment reports and an infographic on pre-hospital and in-hospital/post-hospital stroke care. These reports are designed to help state decision makers and public health organizations determine which policy interventions may be useful in their state.
What Evidence Supports State Laws to Enhance Public Access Defibrillation? Cdc-pdf[PDF – 884 KB]
The Policy Evidence Assessment Report What Evidence Supports State Laws to Enhance Public Access Defibrillation? assesses the evidence for 7 types of Public Access Defibrillation policy interventions addressed in existing state laws to inform state decision makers and public health organizations.
What Could Be Addressed in an Evidence-Informed State Workplace Health Promotion Law? Cdc-pdf[PDF-2M]
The Policy Evidence Assessment Report What Could Be Addressed in an Evidence Informed State Workplace Health Promotion Law assesses the evidence for 21 types of workplace health promotion interventions addressed in state laws to inform policy decision makers, researchers, and program coordinators.
Infographic: What Could Be Addressed in an Evidence-Informed State Workplace Health Promotion Law? Cdc-pdf[PDF-1.2M]
This infographic provides a one page summary of the full Policy Evidence Assessment Report What Could Be Addressed in an Evidence Informed State Workplace Health Promotion Law?
What Evidence Supports State Laws to Establish Community Health Worker Scope of Practice and Certification? Cdc-pdf[PDF – 486 KB]
The Policy Evidence Assessment Report What Evidence Supports State Laws to Establish Community Health Worker Scope of Practice and Certification? provides an update to the previous CHW PEAR and assesses evidence for 2 types of Community Health Worker policy interventions addressed in existing state laws to inform state decision makers and public health organizations.
Community Health Worker Policy Evidence Assessment Report Cdc-pdf[PDF-843K]
The Community Health Worker Policy Evidence Assessment Report assesses the evidence for 14 types of interventions addressed in state CHW laws to inform policy decision makers, researchers, and community and health organizations.
Community Health Worker Policy Evidence Assessment Report One-Pager Cdc-pdf[PDF-231K]
This one-pager provides a summary of the full Community Health Worker Policy Evidence Assessment Report.

Guides, Recommendations, Tools

These resources include summaries, tools, and strategies for health professionals, CHWs, pharmacists, and more to help guide their heart disease and stroke prevention efforts.

Addressing Chronic Disease through Community Health Workers: A Policy and Systems-Level Approach Cdc-pdf[PDF-924K]
This document provides guidance and resources for implementing recommendations to integrate community health workers (CHWs) into community-based efforts to prevent chronic disease. It sets forth evidence demonstrating the value and impact of CHWs in preventing and managing chronic diseases and describes comprehensive state policies, programs that engage CHWs, and resources to assist state health departments and others.

Primary Stroke Center Policy: Recommendations for Policy Implementation Cdc-pdf[PDF-1M]
This document identifies the key components, facilitators, and barriers to Primary Stroke Center Policy implementation for states.
From “Retailers” to Health Care Providers: Transforming the Role of Community Pharmacists in Chronic Disease Management Cdc-pdf[PDF-407K]
This Science-in-Brief is a short synopsis of a 2015 article that addresses global efforts to include community pharmacists in primary care to support the management of chronic disease.
Health Impact Assessment
This page describes how to use the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) tool to evaluate the potential health effects of a project or policy before it is built or implemented. The HIA framework is used to bring potential public health impacts and considerations to the decision-making process for plans, projects, and policies that fall outside of traditional public health arenas, such as transportation and land use.

Resources from Other Organizations

The Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions Designed to Reduce Sodium IntakeExternal
This comprehensive literature review summarizes evidence on selected population-wide interventions to reduce sodium as approaches to control hypertension. The findings indicate that sodium reduction interventions are low in cost and cost-effective.
A Population-Based Policy and Systems Change Approach to Prevent and Control Hypertension
This Institute of Medicine (IOM) report recommends that federal, state, and local health agencies focus on population-based strategies that can reach large numbers of people and improve the well-being of entire communities. Behavioral and lifestyle interventions—reducing sodium intake, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, and increasing physical activity—are among the best examples. The report also highlights the need to improve providers’ adherence to the treatment guidelines for hypertension and to encourage patients to take medication consistently by reducing or eliminating the cost of antihypertensive medication.
The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation’s Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare PopulationExternal
This Institute of Medicine (IOM) publication provides recommendations for nutrition services for the elderly, including sodium reduction among the Medicare population, and considers how health care coverage policies should be approached and practiced. The book also discusses the role of nutrition therapy in the management of cardiovascular disease, among other conditions.