Taking the Future to Heart

Carolyn Flowers, Chief Operations Executive Officer of Southern California’s Metro system, is no stranger to the realities of heart disease and strokes within her own family. Like many women of her generation, however, she admits that she would more likely have named breast cancer rather than cardiovascular disease as currently the number one killer of females in the United States.

For all of the significant strides that baby boomers have made in embracing healthier lifestyles than their mothers and grandmothers, staggering studies by the American Heart Association, the Center for Disease Control, and the RAND Corporation reveal a much different story; specifically, that women have not only emerged in recent years as being at higher risk than males but are also more apt to experience symptoms that are not initially recognized as early warning signals.

Chest and stomach discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden cold sweats and extreme fatigue are often dismissed by women as transitory occurrences that don’t warrant a trip to the doctor. Past the age of 55, factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and lack of physical activity can literally put females – particularly African Americans and Hispanics - within a heartbeat of jeopardy.

On November 3rd in Pasadena, a unique type of marathon will make its debut at the world famous Rose Bowl and raise community awareness of the issues affecting women’s heart health. “Wild at Heart” is the brainchild of Ariel Penn, Filming and Special Events Manager for the City of Pasadena. The progressive nature of the marathon is designed to allow participants – many of whom have previously been unable to participate in traditional marathons – to walk or run the 23.1 miles in the days and weeks leading up to November 3rd and complete the final stretch of 3.1 miles during the event day itself. Marathon miles are logged via the honor system on a worksheet provided at the event website: www.heartmarathon.com.

In a special interview in conjunction with “Wild at Heart”, Flowers shared what her organization is doing to promote a proactive approach to better fitness and healthy lifestyles for Metro employees.

Q: Let’s start out by talking about what ignited your passion on this topic and what led to your involvement with the American Heart Association.

A: I became involved with the American Heart Association through Bill Wood who is on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles chapter. Bill was hosting an event at his home to launch the Power to End Stroke Campaign and invited me to the event. Sylvia Beanes from the American Heart Association and several medical experts gave a presentation on the impact of stroke on certain at risk populations, specifically African Americans.

Heart disease is a problem in my immediate family and I also have relatives who have been impacted by stroke. As an African American female, I listened intently to the message because I was learning information that I had never heard in our community. I had no idea what the symptoms of stroke were and how immediate medical treatment can reduce the debilitating effects of stroke.

When we asked what we could to help, Sylvia already had a plan. Her plan included reaching large employers that had employee in the at-risk population. Most of the employees at Metro are minorities and fit into the high risk category based on racial background and lifestyle.

We already had major emphasis on reducing our worker’s compensation claims at Metro through safety and had just started shifting our focus to wellness programs. When I was asked if Metro could get involved, it was timely. I was able to forge a partnership with the AHA to bring the Stroke Awareness Campaign to Metro. AHA visited all of our bus divisions disseminating information about the Power to End Stroke Campaign and providing information on dietary and lifestyle changes.

The American Heart Association has worked with us on the Metro Fit program, with the annual “Go Red for Women” heart awareness campaign externally and internally with employee walking clubs and other similar health related programs and campaigns. We are expanding and broadening our internal partnership to now include our largest employee union, which is the United Transportation Union representing the largest group of our employees (bus and train operators), and to sponsor a more comprehensive wellness program aimed at disease management.

At Metro, I have received tremendous support and assistance in these promotional efforts from Fran Curbello in Communications Department, who works on external marketing promotions and from our Corporate Safety department. Fran has provided the impetus and push to market our programs with AHA and with our community partnerships to promote health and environmental awareness to our Metro patrons. We have minimal funds for these programs and she finds ways to expand our communications in the most creative manners and venues.

Q: In what ways will Metro participate in and/or benefit from “Wild at Heart”?

A: “Wild at Heart” is an event which provides our agency an optimum opportunity to showcase how Metro is working with community partners to both support and promote awareness for a healthier lifestyle choices and environmental issues, and pardon the pun, “to step into the role” of becoming a leader for a better quality of life in Southern California.

Our participation in “Wild at Heart” as a community partner will give us the chance to be the daily reminder that small steps and simple lifestyle changes, such as walking and using public transportation can be beneficial to your health, your environment and the quality of life for the future. At the end of the day isn’t it good to know that your legacy to the future will be a few steps toward a better and healthier quality of life for yourself and the future of our children?

We feel that the community at large is looking toward our agency to be the leaders with mobility and environmental issues, which directly correlates to health and medical issues and which I am sure you and your readers are aware of how hotly this topic this has been debated throughout California. How are we preparing to meet the future and be the leaders? It is simple: “Go Metro”.

People are living longer and if they can make small daily changes in their lifestyle such as walking to and from public transportation, it will improve their quality of life for now and for their future. With the growing attention to environmental and health awareness issues, Metro has implemented a plan to partner with more and more community groups and organizations, such as the AHA and “Wild at Heart” to reinforce the importance of making a difference with lifestyle and the environment (by leaving your car at home, even it if is only one-two days a week) and promoting healthier lifestyle choices to our patrons.

Q: Tell us about the MetroFit program that is offered for your own employees, as well as how you believe it could be a model for other companies to follow.

A: Metro Fit is an exciting program that Metro has facilitated to promote lifestyle changes internally to our employees and externally to our transportation patrons. The focus of Metro Fit is to improve the fitness and the wellness profile of our employees and to promote this lifestyle change to our transportation patrons. We are hoping this program will attract new riders to added benefit of “Going Metro”.

The program was launched through our partnership with the AHA and advances our long term objectives in working toward improving the health of our employees and building awareness for improving health and environmental issues with our Metro patrons. The program has been in effect and successfully moving forward for the past three years in our agency both internally and externally.

Q: In your view, what is the top contributing factor to women's heart health problems escalating over the past 50 years?

A: The increased number of women in the workforce, whereas previously women were considered to be at home and not subject to work related stress. More discussions of women’s health issues are emerging and how they differ in reactions and symptoms from the classic symptoms of males, and research about hormones and their affect on women’s health.

Q: Children, of course, are growing more at risk in the US as a product of childhood obesity. Lack of exercise, access to fatty snacks, and parental reluctance to police everything their children do are all factors we need to pay attention to. What are your thoughts on how we can be more proactive in lessening the risk of cardio disease for adolescents and teens and how does "Go Metro" fit this vision?

A: The lifestyle of the average child in this country has become sedentary. Daily physical education classes are no longer a requirement in most schools and exercise is no longer part of the general curriculum. Computer games have replaced bicycles and skates as the “toys” of choice. Children are generally chauffeured around by their parents from place to place. More and more older teens are given their own personal cars by parents.

Public transportation provides a means for kids to get out of their house and away from their video games, computers and TV’s and travel around town to a huge variety of destinations. Accessing public transportation is generally done by walking to bus stops or train stations, if the distance to the bus or train stop is longer, bicycles can be used to get to the stops; both bus and rail accommodate bicycles. Public transportation provides a means to relieve traffic congestion by reducing the number of trips taken in cars and at the same time provide an opportunity for less sedentary lifestyles.

Q: Anything else you'd like readers to know?

A: It takes a village of people to make changes with our environment, traffic congestion and health related lifestyle choices, especially in Southern California. Internally, our relationship with AHA has really begun to benefit our employee population at this agency and our hope is that these improvements in lifestyle choices and the added health benefits will cascade down to their family members. Externally, our goal is to foster relationships with numerous community organizations such as the AHA, the “Wild at Heart” event to promote lifestyle and environmental changes among our patrons.