Community panel discussions: from research to community action.

HYPERTENSION AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE are increasing among minorities. Participants at the workshop on the Epidemiology of Hypertension in Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian/Pacific Islander Americans voiced a need to intensify a systemic approach for community-based strategies to guide prevention, treatment, and control. To answer this need, a panel addressed recommended community-based strategies from inclusion of community members in the research process to implementation and application of findings for community action. Recommended strategies include encouraging close cooperation and data sharing between investigators and community groups; including differences in culture, heritage, and local influences in hypertension research; training and working with minority researchers and health care professionals; and intensifying comprehensive and culturally appropriate education programs that focus on prevention, treatment, and control of hypertension. This article contains a summary of key areas of emphasis, as well as implementation strategies to decrease hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases in specific ethnic groups.