Irish Heart Foundation

Great to meet Emma Balmaine the CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation during a recent visit to their HQ in Rathmines. Pauline O'Shea introduced me to all the hard working people in their office. Hopefully we will be as successful raising awareness of one of our biggest killers, Cardiovascular 🫀 heart issues next year. As a member of the Patients Champions, led by Pauline, it’s a privilege to advocate for people suffering #stroke, #heartfailure and #heartattacks in an effort to raise money so the work being undertaken by this great organisation and #community can continue.

The Irish Heart Foundation's Children and Young People team was honoured to be invited to write a chapter of the academic book 'Global Perspectives on Children's Health Literacy: Intersections Between Health, Education and Community'. Our chapter, 'Co-design for health literacy in Irish schools' was co-authored with colleagues from the University of Galway. The chapter explores how the Irish Heart Foundation co-designs heath programmes with pupils, their families, schools and communities and provides insights into developing pupils' health literacy skills,           especially among marginalised groups. Health literacy is the ability to find, understand and apply information to look after our health. Developing this skill earlier in life influences adult health behaviours. Irish Heart Foundation: Katherine Scott, Janis Morrissey, Laura Hickey University of Galway: Colette Kelly, Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, Rachael Maloney Editors: Rosie Nash, Vaughan Cruickshank, Shandell Elmer 

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The incoming Government has a vital opportunity to transform public health in Ireland and safeguard the most vulnerable, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients, children, and young people. The Irish Heart Foundation outlines eight key priorities to achieve a healthier, more sustainable Ireland: - Enact a Public Health Obesity Act to protect children from online marketing and restrict junk food advertising until after 9pm - Expand the sugar tax and subsidize fruit and vegetables to combat childhood obesity - Ban disposable vapes, flavoured e-cigarettes, marketing, and introduce plain packaging to prevent youth nicotine addiction - Develop a National Cardiovascular Policy to address a five-year gap in strategy for a disease causing a quarter of deaths - Fully implement the National Stroke Strategy to manage an anticipated 60% rise in strokes by 2035 - Ensure access to community-based psychosocial and rehabilitation supports for heart and stroke patients - Restore cardiac rehabilitation services to pre-2009 staffing levels and reduce waiting times - Allocate at least 20% of the transport capital budget to pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, with the remainder favouring public transport over road maintenance by a 2:1 ratio. These evidence-based recommendations stem from extensive work with patients, healthcare professionals, and public health initiatives and should be prioritised at the forefront in policy making for a sustainably healthier nation.

The work of the Irish Heart Foundation would not be possible without the generous support and time of our amazing volunteers. Today is #InternationalVolunteerDay, we’d like to say a huge thanks to all the volunteers around Ireland who help improve the lives of those affected by heart disease and stroke. This year our volunteers have provided so much support and impact to heart and stroke patients in Ireland. ❤️ We have a wide range of flexible volunteering roles here at the Irish Heart Foundation. If you’d like to learn more or get involved, visit https://lnkd.in/epZQSzMi

Hard to believe that it's two years today since I had my 'cardiac event'...there have been lots of ups and downs since but the road to recovery has also proved a journey of self-discovery and I've been really blessed to meet some amazing people along the way!! Tuesday evenings over the last few months have been taken up by 'Patient Champion Training' run by the indefatigable Pauline O'Shea and her colleagues over at the Irish Heart Foundation. CEO Emma Balmaine had a busy morning last Thursday handing out certificates to a new crop of Patient Champs and it was lovely to be there to accept mine! The Foundation does incredible work in supporting and campaigning for people who have been affected by heart and stroke issues and I'm very much looking forward to working with other volunteers to support that mission in any way I can. Keep up the great work folks 💗 💗

Fiona and her son Darradh spoke to Ray Darcy today about how hearing a patient’s story on the radio helped save her life. Listen back here: https://lnkd.in/ddw9KrQr

📣 Last Chance to enter the Happy Hearts Raffle ❤️ You can win a cash prize of €3000 - Buy your tickets here - https://lnkd.in/eeSbaZJx Be in with a chance to win while also helping protect hearts in Ireland. Best of luck tomorrow!

As Irish Heart Foundation #PatientChampions week comes to a close we say an ENORMOUS thank you to all our Patient Champions for their commitment and work to help the organisation #advocate for better services and improvements in heart and stroke patient care, awareness and support and we particularly congratulate our 2024 graduates for whom the advocacy training is now complete and the work about to commence 👏👏👏👏👏

Best of luck to everyone taking part in the 12 Dips in December this month for the Irish Heart Foundation. Hundreds of people all over Ireland will be Dipping in the sea, in pools and ice baths to raise funds to help heart and stroke patients.