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Our Supports Are Available To All Stroke Survivors People With Any Kind Of Heart Condition And Carers
Our experienced Irish Heart Foundation nurses are available to help you with any questions or concerns you may have no matter how small.
The Nurse Support Line is available Monday to Friday 9 am to 1pm, call or email
We also provide a range of online and phone support services for people living with stroke, heart conditions, and their carers.
We also run private Facebook groups which provide advice, information and support. These groups allow you to share your thoughts and concerns with a strong community of similarly affected people. Group activities include, online exercise videos, information talks, health advice, and peer to peer support.
Private Facebook groups:
Were In This Together
Navigating a chronic condition like heart, lung or vascular disease can feel overwhelming at first as you adjust to a new way of life. Thats why were dedicated to giving you the support you need. Whether thats connecting you with one of our experienced and compassionate professionals or guiding you to a support group, were here for you, and were in this together.
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He Attended One Support Group Meeting And Found Other People’s Experiences Gave Him A Bit Of Hope
Several people we spoke to had been involved in setting up or running a local support group for people with heart failure, cardiomyopathy or implanted devices . Some also acted as a buddy by giving individual support to people newly diagnosed or newly fitted with an ICD. Not all support groups operate on a face-to-face basis. Some people we spoke with belonged to an online heart failure support group, enabling them to chat to other members over the internet or by phone, which they found helpful.
Powerful Hearts Support Group For Cardiac Surgery Patients
We are honored that you trusted us for your heart surgery. In order to help you along the road to recovery, patients who have had cardiac or vascular surgery with Doctors Mumtaz, Loran, Jaik or Martella, are welcome to join our Powerful Hearts support group. Each session will feature dynamic presentations by physicians, nurses, registered dietitians, exercise experts and more as well as light refreshments. The support group is a free service. See our classes and events section for upcoming sessions.
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Ask Your Doctor Or Hospital
Most doctors and cardiovascular units within hospitals keep a list of support groups in your area. In addition to supervised exercise sessions, education, and relaxation, your cardiac rehabilitation program is a great place to find emotional and peer support. Many programs have support groups for patients that are led by healthcare professionals. Attend a few sessions to see if you click with others.
Learn From Others To Help Manage Your Heart Failure
Living with heart failure means you have to make a lot of decisions every day to protect your heart and boost your energy, from watching your weight to limiting fluids. Despite their best efforts, your friends and family canât really understand how all these changes affect your life.
Thatâs where a support group may come in. These groups can have many benefits, including offering practical advice from others living with the condition, such as how to cut back on salt without losing taste, says Elizabeth Lockhart, PhD, MPH, who has conducted research about heart failure support groups.
People in support groups also report that theyâre inspired by seeing what others with the condition can accomplish, she says.
These communities prove âthat you can still do things on a day-to-day basis — that you donât need to be babied,â Lockhart says. âYou can really challenge yourself to do the stuff that you want to. That some days may not be as good as others. You just have to weigh where you are on that day.â
Getting to know others with heart failure may ease the mental strain that some people can have after theyâre diagnosed, says Carolyn Thomas, a patient advocate and author of A Womanâs Guide to Living with Heart Disease. One out of every 5 people with heart failure also has depression, according to an analysis of three dozen studies published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Inclusion And Exclusion Criteria
All peer reviewed studies published in English were included if these studies focused on: adults aged 18 or over with a diagnosis of CHF or acutely decompensated CHF graded at the New York Heart Association II-IV as a primary or secondary diagnosis in any care settings or their informal caregivers two or more clinical or non-clinical palliative care interventions as outlined by the palliative care workshop of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology any outcome measures and used experimental designs .
Studies were excluded if they included people with acute heart failure paid caregivers interventions that target only one palliative care domain alone which could not reflect the holistic nature of palliative care non-experimental designs such as observational studies, and studies in progress.
Prevalence And Risk Factors
Heart failure is a common syndrome, especially in older adults. Although more patients survive acute myocardial infarction because of reperfusion therapy, most have at least some residual LV systolic dysfunction, which can lead to heart failure. Currently, 5.7 million Americans are afflicted with heart failure, approximately 2% of the population.1 Patients with heart failure account for about 1 million hospital admissions annually, and another 2 million patients have heart failure as a secondary diagnosis. Many of these patients are readmitted within 90 days for recurrent decompensation.
Patients at high risk for developing heart failure are those with hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, family history of cardiomyopathy, use of cardiotoxins, and obesity.
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Stroke Education And Screenings
Free stroke screenings are offered to the public periodically at health fairs and other events supported by UPMC in Central Pa. For the most up-to-date schedule, please see our online calendar of events.
Screenings can also be arranged for organizations or businesses. Please call 717-782-2736 for more information.
About Norton Heart & Vascular Institute
Every year, about 250,000 people in Louisville and Southern Indiana choose Norton Heart & Vascular Institute specialists for their heart and vascular care. Thats more than any other health care provider.
- Norton Healthcares four adult-service hospitals in Louisville are American College of Cardiology accredited Cycle VI Chest Pain Centers the highest level of expertise to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack.
- You have access to more than 45 board-certified cardiovascular physicians and more than 35 advanced practice providers with specialized training and experience in a comprehensive range of conditions and treatments.
- Patients can make appointments at 27 locations in Louisville and Southern Indiana. Telecardiology is offered at more than 30 sites in the region.
- Norton Audubon Hospital, a key location for Norton Heart & Vascular Institute services, has been recognized with a HeartCare Center National Distinction of Excellence year after year by the American College of Cardiology. This is the only hospital in Louisville to be recognized for this distinction.
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Support With Every Breath
A strong community encourages a strong heart. From connecting you with others through our cardiac support groups to helping you navigate our financial assistance tools, were here to give you the guidance you need to feel whole.
The information on this website is not a substitute for examination, diagnosis, and medical care provided by a licensed and qualified health professional. Please consult your physician before undertaking any form of medical treatment and/or adopting any exercise program or dietary guidelines. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your physician or 911 immediately. AdventHealth reserves the right to add, remove or edit content on this page at its sole discretion.
AdventHealth and the American Heart Association collaborate on community initiatives that bring awareness to preventative heart care, heart attack and stroke warning signs, and healthy lifestyle education. AdventHealth is also an authorized provider of American Heart Association certification courses.
Finding The Support You Need Online
Youll find a number of active heart attack support groups on Facebook simply by exploring the groups area. < insert Facebook group page>
Not only will your heart attack support team help keep your body healthy, youll be amazed at what a difference they can make in your mental and emotional recovery.
So get connected!
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Heart Failure Support Group
A diagnosis of heart failure may leave patients and their family members feeling frightened and alone. Having someone else to talk to, someone who has experienced the same issues, may help them feel better physically, spiritually and emotionally.
The Temple Heart & Vascular Institutes free Heart Failure Support Group offers patients the chance to share their experiences with others and learn more about their disease. Many who attend are comforted by the knowledge that they are not alone.
This support group accommodates patients of all stages, from the recently diagnosed to patients who are receiving a heart transplant. Family members are also encouraged to attend meetings so they can learn how to cope with this disease.
The Heart Failure Support Group is currently meeting virtually every 3rd Wednesday of the month. View our Events Calendar for a list of support group dates.
To register or for more information about the Heart Failure Support Group, contact Bahiyra Shaw at .
Upmc Cardiac Classes And Groups In Central Pa
UPMC in Central Pa. offers a wide range of community health events and activities, all focused on keeping you and your family healthy.
In an effort to help you and your family to be as healthy as possible, UPMC in Central Pa. sponsors a variety of community health events and activities, including screenings, classes and workshops. Check out our calendar of events for the most up to date listing and for new programs.
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Womenheart Is Here For You
Our local support networks provide women like you the critical peer-to-peer support, information and encouragement that you need. Led by trained patient volunteers, more than 100 support groups meet monthly all over the country. Get started by finding a group near you. In the wake of COVID-19, some groups are back to meeting in person and others are meeting virtually over Zoom. Reach out to your local leader for information.
If you cant find a support network in your community, inquire about HeartSisters Online, an entirely virtual support network for women anywhere in the country, by emailing . WomenHeart also offers on-one-on support through our SisterMatch program and supports an online patient forum through Inspire.
Stay Supported Stay Strong
Transitioning and getting back into a routine after treatment is everything. Thats why our team of nurses, dietitians, social workers, and other specialists is here for you, offering multidisciplinary care to keep you healthier, longer. Through the Heart Success Center, we help you safely adjust from the hospital back to home life.
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Friends And Family Can Often Provide Much
Managing heart failure isn’t always easy. Physically, many people with heart failure often can’t handle all the tasks they once could. They also have to change their lives eating differently, remembering medications, paying closer attention to their bodies and reducing stress. These changes can be hard because they often require breaking long-held habits.
But the changes are usually easier to make when loved ones provide much-needed support and care. If you live with or are close to someone who has heart failure, you’re likely to have the greatest impact on their success by following instructions from the healthcare team.
Risk Of Bias Assessment
Quality assessment was performed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials . It is a domain-based evaluation tool which encompasses five key domains: Bias arising from the randomization process bias due to deviations from intended interventions bias due to missing outcome data bias in measurement of the outcome and bias in selection of the reported result. In this review, SH completed risk of bias assessment and any queries were discussed with PG. Should any controlled before-and-after studies or interrupted time series studies be identified for inclusion, the Cochrane EPOC group guidance on CBAs and ITS studies was planned to be used .
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Perceived Control And Self
Two studies used the Control Attitude Scale to measure level of perceived control . Agren et al. did find a statistically significant improvement in perceived control using CAS at 3months in the intervention group , but this was not maintained at 12months . Liljeroos were unable to detect any statistically significant difference between arms . Moreover, Agren et al. found no significant difference in self-care behaviours between groups . Aiken et al. also aimed to measure self-management outcomes using a self-developed questionnaire. Unfortunately, no subset analysis for the CHF population was performed, however, for all participants in the intervention group, they found there was a statistically significant improved sense of receiving sufficient information to handle illness emergency at 6months, sense of receiving education about community resources at 3months, information about who to talk to about medical problem at 6months and better preparedness for daily experiences at 3months with a p value of < 0.05 .
Connecting You With Support
Every individual and diagnosis is a little different, but you can often find community and support among others facing similar situations. We partner with many community organizations that drive hope and healing.
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The information on this website is not a substitute for examination, diagnosis, and medical care provided by a licensed and qualified health professional. Please consult your physician before undertaking any form of medical treatment and/or adopting any exercise program or dietary guidelines. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your physician or 911 immediately. AdventHealth reserves the right to add, remove, or edit content on this page at its sole discretion.
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Resource Use And Cost Effectiveness
Nine studies provided outcome data on medical utilisation through a variety of measures . Brannstrom et al. found that over a 6-month period, the mean number of hospitalisations were significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control and the mean number of days spent in hospital was significantly lower in the intervention group . Moreover, they demonstrated significantly higher rates of nurse home visits in the intervention group . Piamjariyakul et al. found a significant reduction in re-hospitalisations in the intervention group compared to the control group . Likewise, Wong et al. demonstrated significantly reduced hospital re-admission rates in the intervention group compared to the control over a 12-week period . The remaining six studies failed to show any statistically significant difference in rates of hospitalisations or medical utilisation.
With regards to quality-adjusted life years , Sahlen et al. found that the intervention group had a slight improvement in QALYs and the control group had a decline. These changes were significant and there was a net gain of 0.25 QALYs associated with the intervention . Wong et al. found no statistically significant difference between QALY gain in the intervention group compared to the control group .
Physical And Psychological Symptom Control
Eight studies assessed physical symptom burden . Overall, three out of eight studies showed some degree of statistically significantly improvement in physical symptom control in the intervention group compared to the control . Wong et al. calculated the minimal clinically important difference of change in the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale scores and found that the intervention group experienced significantly higher clinical improvement in depression , dyspnoea and total scores at 4weeks . Ng et al.s study found no significant difference in overall ESAS scores between intervention and control groups over 12weeks, however, a subset analysis did discover statistically significant improvement in dyspnoea after 4weeks in the intervention arm , but this was not maintained at 12weeks . Bekelman et al. measured the General Symptom Distress Scale and found no significant change in frequency of symptoms between intervention and control groups. However, fatigue, measured using the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System score, showed a significant improvement in the intervention group at 6months, with a mean difference between change scores of 2.0 and a p value of 0.02 .
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Pathophysiology And Natural History
Although much progress has been made in the treatment of heart failure, there is a high overall annual mortality , particularly in patients with New York Heart Association Class IV symptoms.2 Many patients succumb to progressive pump failure and congestion, although one half die from sudden cardiac death. Some patients die from end-organ failure resulting from inadequate systemic organ perfusion, particularly to the kidneys. Indicators of poor cardiac prognosis include renal dysfunction, cachexia, valvular regurgitation, ventricular arrhythmias, higher NYHA heart failure class, lower LV ejection fraction , high catecholamine and B-type natriuretic peptide levels, low serum sodium level, hypocholesterolemia, and marked LV dilation. Patients with combined systolic and diastolic LV dysfunction also have a worse prognosis than patients with either in isolation.
In heart failure, baroreceptor and osmotic stimuli lead to vasopressin release from the hypothalamus, causing reabsorption of water in the renal collecting duct. Although these neurohormonal pathways initially are compensatory and beneficial, eventually they are deleterious, and neurohormonal modulation is the basis for modern medical treatment of heart failure.
Table 1: American College of CardiologyAmerican Heart Association Classification of Chronic Heart Failure
| Stage |
|---|
| Structural heart disease, dyspnea and fatigue, impaired exercise tolerance |
| D: Refractory end-stage heart failure |