Heart Health Program

Abstract

Social influence processes have played an important role in the conceptual underpinnings, development, and implementation of the Minnesota Heart Health Program (MHHP). MHHP is a communitywide program developed to prevent illness and disability by helping people reduce their own risk factors associated with heart disease. This chapter describes the program as a way of illustrating how social influence processes have been used in a primary prevention program. (The program has been described at length elsewhere; see Blackburn et al., 1984; Mittelmark et al., 1986).