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A panel on African American Heart Health emphasized the need for exercise, access to information and better participation in clinical trials.
The discussion – a collaboration with the Association of Black Cardiologists and Methodist Hospitals – was held Friday at St. Timothy's Church in Gary.
Dr. Reuben Rutland, Health Commissioner at Gary, said the focus should be on prevention and exercise.
"Start now, if you live a sedentary life and you're at home, start walking," he said, "if you go to the mall, take a stroll through the mall. type of activity.
Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said the city has a role to play in accessing health information.
"Whenever we have had the opportunity to provide this access, we have always used City Hall," she said. "Sign up for the Affordable Care Act. You can do it at City Hall.
Speakers included Rutland, Freeman-Wilson, Lawyer Myra Selby, State Representatives, Charlie Brown, D-Gary, Reverend David Neville, Director of Spiritual Care at Methodist, and Executive Director from Community HealthNet, Janet Seabrook.
Denise Dillard, Senior Methodist Consultant for Government and External Affairs, led the discussion.
Dr. Andre Artis, director of the Methodist Heart and Vascular Institute, called for greater participation in clinical trials, noting that African Americans continue to be extremely underrepresented.
The legacy of Tuskegee's experiences with syphilis continued to breed distrust of medical trials, he said.
Methodist hospitals and the Association of Black Cardiologists will host a health fair at St. Timothy Community Church, 1600 W. 25th Ave. to Gary from 8 am to Saturday noon.
At last year's Heart Forum, Freeman-Wilson explained how his own family suffered from heart disease when his metalworking father died three decades earlier.
Only 57 years old, the cause was a massive heart attack, she said.
Earlier in the day, when she "left home, she told him I was going somewhere," Freeman-Wilson said. "And when I returned later in the afternoon, he was gone, without warning."
According to a Methodist community health needs assessment published in 2016, heart disease is the leading cause of death in Lake County.
According to the 2015 figures cited in the report, 186.9 people out of 100,000 would have died from heart disease in Lake County, compared to 170.5 nationwide.
Invited to rank local threats to public health, Methodist Northlake's respondents in Gary listed heart disease after diabetes, obesity, addictions and mental health.
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