{"id":72246,"date":"2025-11-18T10:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=72246"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:42:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:42:48","slug":"heart-healthy-utc-project-expands-rural-heart-health-outreach-through-state-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/heart-healthy-utc-project-expands-rural-heart-health-outreach-through-state-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart healthy: UTC project expands rural heart health outreach through state partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_72598\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" ><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"633\" data-attachment-id=\"72598\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/heart-healthy-utc-project-expands-rural-heart-health-outreach-through-state-partnership\/escape-room-25-7\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C863&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,863\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"Escape Room-25-\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Interior Design and Social Work students work together Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 in the Metro Building to get out of an escape room&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?fit=880%2C633&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-72598 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?resize=880%2C633&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Dr. Meagan Oslund stands behind a computer monitor at the front of a classroom.\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\"style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C736&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?resize=768%2C552&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?resize=800%2C575&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?resize=580%2C417&amp;ssl=1 580w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/Escape-Room-25-2142-1.jpg?resize=610%2C439&amp;ssl=1 610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Meagan Oslund is co-PI on the new \u201cConnecting Community Partners: Breaking Down Barriers to Heart Health\u201d partnership with the Tennessee Department of Health. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing is partnering with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to expand access to cardiovascular care for older adults in rural Southeast Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Building on the success of the University\u2019s MobileMOC program, the new initiative\u2014titled \u201cConnecting Community Partners: Breaking Down Barriers to Heart Health\u201d\u2014is designed to connect senior centers, local providers and community resources to help older adults monitor and manage their blood pressure while learning practical ways to maintain heart health.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative aligns with the state\u2019s cardiovascular health priorities by addressing barriers to care and promoting equitable access to prevention and follow-up resources\u2014particularly for older adults in rural communities.<\/p>\n<p>The project is led by Dr. Kristi Wick, UC Foundation associate professor and Vicky B. Gregg Chair in Gerontology, and Dr. Meagan Oslund, assistant professor of practice in the UTC School of Nursing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis grant is a complement to MobileMOC,\u201d Oslund said. \u201cWe already provide really great services, but this is adding an emphasis on cardiovascular health to the services we already offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Launched in March 2025, the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/utc-rolls-out-mobilemoc-health-clinic\/\"><strong>MobileMOC medical outreach clinic<\/strong><\/a> is a custom-built mobile health unit operated by the School of Nursing. The clinic brings interdisciplinary care\u2014including nursing, occupational therapy, social work and public health\u2014to 10 counties across Southeast Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>MobileMOC is part of the broader ROAD MAP initiative, which connects UTC faculty, students and community partners to address health disparities and build a stronger rural health care workforce.<\/p>\n<p>Oslund said the new TDH grant focuses on empowering rural residents\u2014particularly older adults\u2014to take charge of their heart health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis grant is about looking at heart health from a three-pronged approach\u2014self-measurement, community resources, and education about lifestyle changes,\u201d Oslund said. \u201cYes, patients are taking their blood pressure, but if it\u2019s high, then what? So we want to connect the patient to the right resource for a timely evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wick said access to timely care is challenging when living in rural Tennessee given health care workforce shortages, hospital closures and lack of social resources such as healthy nutrition and transportation.<\/p>\n<p>This grant will help connect people to quality care and resources faster along with providing follow-up to ensure health issues are addressed long-term.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCardiovascular health requires all-inclusive lifestyle modifications to mitigate risk of poor health outcomes such as stroke or death,\u201d Oslund said.<\/p>\n<p>A key element of the project is a closed-loop referral system, ensuring that every screening connects back to the right care team.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning in January 2026, blood pressure monitoring kiosks will be installed in senior centers in Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Polk and Rhea counties. Each kiosk will allow users to check their blood pressure as often as they like. Readings that indicate risk will trigger referrals for follow-up care.<\/p>\n<p>Data from each kiosk will be integrated into MobileMOC\u2019s electronic health record system, enabling the team to track outcomes and assess the long-term impact across participating counties.<\/p>\n<p>Oslund said nurse practitioners from the MobileMOC team will visit the same senior centers that house the kiosks, providing blood pressure follow-up and heart health education. Monthly programs hosted by a MobileMOC community health worker will address topics such as stress, sleep, smoking cessation, nutrition and exercise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe actually have an OT capstone student coming in and working with our nurse and community health worker for a more well-rounded approach to each of those topics as part of that interdisciplinary team,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Oslund, an occupational therapist who received her Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree from UTC in 2021, joined the MobileMOC team in January 2025 as the interprofessional education and practice coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>She previously spent nearly four years as an occupational therapist at CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, specializing in stroke care in the neuro intensive care unit. That experience shaped her focus on prevention and accessibility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt Memorial, I spent a lot of time in the neuro ICU,\u201d she explained. \u201cYou see older adults with strokes and brain bleeds and all these kinds of things. I would get so frustrated that there were all of these older adults who lived in these rural counties and they had no follow-up, nowhere to go for resources or therapy. So I\u2019ve shifted my mindset to how we can prevent this catastrophe from happening in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That perspective led her to UTC\u2019s interprofessional health initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could just see the benefit,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you have education, nutrition, social work, OT and nursing on the front end of things, we can prevent some of these catastrophic events from happening later on.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Learn more<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utc.edu\/enrollment-management-and-student-affairs\/admissions\/visit\">Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utc.edu\/health-education-and-professional-studies\/school-of-nursing\">School of Nursing<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utc.edu\/apply\">How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing is partnering with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to expand access to cardiovascular care for older adults in rural Southeast Tennessee. Building on the success of the University\u2019s MobileMOC program, the new initiative\u2014titled \u201cConnecting Community Partners: Breaking Down Barriers to Heart Health\u201d\u2014is designed to connect senior centers, local providers and community resources to help older adults monitor and manage their blood pressure while learning practical ways to maintain heart health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/heart-healthy-utc-project-expands-rural-heart-health-outreach-through-state-partnership\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1493,"featured_media":72250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,70,123864,56,4936,3,122493,7712,52,12806,83654,8244,127043,64,12822,8325,12790,661],"tags":[126323,123827,123826,122173,123828,125275,125274,124776,123829,123001,99151],"class_list":{"0":"post-72246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-advancement-and-alumni","9":"category-campus","10":"category-college-of-health-education-and-professional-studies","11":"category-college-of-nursing","12":"category-community","13":"category-education","14":"category-faculty-and-staff","15":"category-graduate-school","16":"category-health-and-human-performance","17":"category-health-and-wellness","18":"category-honors-and-awards","19":"category-mobilemoc","20":"category-news","21":"category-occupational-therapy","22":"category-service","23":"category-social-work","24":"category-students","25":"tag-chi-memorial-hospital","26":"tag-creating-the-mocs-experience","27":"tag-cultivating-a-culture-of-innovation","28":"tag-kristi-wick","29":"tag-leveraging-our-special-place-as-chattanoogas-university","30":"tag-meagan-oslund","31":"tag-mobilemoc","32":"tag-mocs-learn-mocs-do-mocs-lead","33":"tag-operating-with-excellence","34":"tag-road-map","35":"tag-tennessee-department-of-health","36":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Heart healthy: UTC project expands rural heart health outreach through state partnership | UTC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing is partnering with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to expand access to cardiovascular care for older adults in rural Southeast Tennessee. Building on the success of the University\u2019s MobileMOC program, the new initiative\u2014titled \u201cConnecting Community Partners: Breaking Down Barriers to Heart Health\u201d\u2014is designed to connect senior centers, local providers and community resources to help older adults monitor and manage their blood pressure while learning practical ways to maintain heart health.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/heart-healthy-utc-project-expands-rural-heart-health-outreach-through-state-partnership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heart healthy: UTC project expands rural heart health outreach through state partnership | UTC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing is partnering with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to expand access to cardiovascular care for older adults in rural Southeast Tennessee. Building on the success of the University\u2019s MobileMOC program, the new initiative\u2014titled \u201cConnecting Community Partners: Breaking Down Barriers to Heart Health\u201d\u2014is designed to connect senior centers, local providers and community resources to help older adults monitor and manage their blood pressure while learning practical ways to maintain heart health.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/heart-healthy-utc-project-expands-rural-heart-health-outreach-through-state-partnership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UTC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UTChattanooga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-18T15:02:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-21T17:42:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" 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