U.S. Surgeon General's Call to Action to Control Hypertension

On October 7, 2020, Surgeon General VADM Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H., issued a Call to Action urging Americans to recognize and address hypertension control as a national, public health priority. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Control Hypertension provides strategies for those on the frontlines of health care and public health to address this costly, dangerous, and far too common chronic health condition.

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action summarizes recent data on hypertension control for all populations, identifies the 10 most effective strategies for achieving control, and provides recommendations to individuals and organizations that can improve rates of hypertension prevention and control.

The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) is a collection of evidence-based findings of the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF). It is a resource to help select interventions to improve health and prevent disease in states, communities, community organizations, businesses, healthcare organizations, or schools.

The Call to Action outlines three goals to improve hypertension control across the United States, and each goal is supported by strategies to achieve success:

Goal 1. Make hypertension control a national priority.

Goal 2. Ensure that the places where people live, learn, work, and play support hypertension control.

Goal 3. Optimize patient care for hypertension.

The Call to Action refers to the following CPSTF-recommended intervention approaches:

• Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
  • Interactive Digital Interventions for Blood Pressure Self-Management
  • Interventions Engaging Community Health Workers
  • Reducing Out-of-Pocket Costs for Cardiovascular Disease Preventive Services for Patients with High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol
  • Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring Interventions for Improved Blood Pressure Control When Used Alone or When Combined with Additional Support
  • Team-Based Care to Improve Blood Pressure Control
  • Tailored Pharmacy-based Interventions to Improve Medication Adherence

• Increasing Physical Activity
  • Built Environment Approaches Combining Transportation System Interventions with Land Use and Environmental Design
  • Interventions to Increase Active Travel to School
  • Social Support Interventions in Community Settings

• Reducing Tobacco Use
  • Tobacco Use: Mass-Reach Health Communication Interventions

Everyone can improve hypertension control by taking action in our communities and in our healthcare system. As community partners, we all can take deliberate steps to address the social determinants of health necessary to help people in our communities better manage and improve their blood pressure and overall health.