INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA SYSTEM FOR THE PREVENTION OF HEART DISEASE

CARIOVASCULAR DISEASES CAUSES MORE DEATHS IN THE UNITED STATES THAN ALL OTHER DISEASES COMBINED. REDUCTIONS IN MAJOR RISK FACTORS, SUCH AS HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HIGH BLOOD CHOLESTEROL AND SMOKING, ARE HAVING A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY. STILL, AN ESTIMATED 30% OF ADULTS IN AMERICA HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, A CONDITION THAT IS IN PARTIALLY RELATED TO LIFESTYLE AND CAN BE PREVENTED THROUGH CHANGES IN EXERCISE, DIET AND STRESS MANAGEMENT. THE HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 OBJECTIVES CALL FOR A 26% REDUCTION IN HEART DISEASE DEATHS BY THE END OF THE DECADE. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, PREVENTION EDUCATION WILL NEED TO BE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO MORE PEOPLE. STUDIES INDICATE THAT INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA CAN EFFECTIVELY PROMOTE BEHAVIOR CHANGE BY ACTIVELY INVOLVING USERS IN THE LEARNING PROCESS, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME MAKING CONSISTENT AND COMPELLING EDUCATION MATERIALS AVAILABLE TO A LARGER NUMBER OF PEOPLE. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE AN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM THA WOULD MOTIVATE USERS TO ADOPT PREVENTITIVE TECHNIQUES LEADING TO A REDUCTION IN HEART DISEASE. THE SPECFIC AIM OF PHASE I IS TO DEVELOP A HYPERCARD(TM)-BASED PROTOTYPE SYSTEM ON THE MACINTOSH COMPUTER TO HELP PROMOTE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE-RELATED CHANGE FOCUSING ON STRESS MANAGEMENT.