The Irish Heart Foundation would like to share some upcoming news and events with you.
This week is Heart Failure Awareness Week.
The patient support team has organised a range of events for people living with heart failure and those interested in learning more on the topic. Following on from a successful in-person event yesterday in Portlaoise, online events will continue for the remainder of the week. The public is encouraged to use the ‘Symptom Checker’ to detect if they may have heart failure and heart failure patients are encouraged to download the new ‘Take 3 Beats’ tool to help monitor their symptoms. The week is kindly supported by Novartis.
The health promotion team will launch the second year of the ‘Before Damage is Done’ campaign on Tuesday, 7th May.
This campaign will encourage people aged over 50 to visit their local GP or pharmacy and get their blood pressure checked. High blood pressure is a silent killer and can be easily managed with lifestyle changes and if required, medication. More information can be found on our website and our Mobile Health Unit will continue to offer checks during the month also. Fleming Medical has partnered with the Irish Heart Foundation to offer free blood pressure checks in participating pharmacies across Ireland in May and June.
Across May, the fundraising team will be recruiting people for the ‘100km with your Dog in June’ challenge. This is a Facebook Challenge Event, where participants will receive a dog bandana after signing up, walk during the month while fundraising for the Irish Heart Foundation and then receive a medal on completion. If you would like to take part, please get in touch with Muireann (hello@irishheart.ie) and she will set you up.
This June Bank Holiday (2nd June), participants will take part in the Women’s Mini Marathon in Dublin while raising funds for the Irish Heart Foundation. It is a 10km route which you can walk, jog or run on your own or with a group. If you would like to take part, you will need to buy a ticket with the event organisers here and you can set up a fundraising page for the Irish Heart Foundation here. We would be very grateful to all who take part for the Irish Heart Foundation.