Heart of our City aims to reduce the rate of unplanned heart related hospital admissions by connecting people with resources to support their heart health.  

Heart of our City, a new pilot population health programme focused on improving heart health in Dublin 8 has been launched today by the Irish Heart Foundation in partnership with Smart D8 and Novartis. The project is also working with the Dublin 8 community, St James’s Hospital, ExWell Medical and Fatima Groups United.

Smart D8 is a collaborative initiative between local authorities, academia and healthcare in the local area and includes the Digital Hub, Smart Dublin, Dublin City Council and St Patrick’s Mental Health Services to name but a few.

The initiative aims to investigate how new approaches can be used to improve citizens’ health and wellbeing in the Dublin 8 area.

This pilot project will connect people in Dublin 8 with a range of existing resources to support their heart health, building on existing social prescribing initiatives in the locality.

Social prescribing is when a healthcare or community worker connects people to a range of non-medical services in their community such as gardening, dance classes, yoga or healthy cookery classes.

The programme will also support GPs, pharmacists, and community groups to help people in Dublin 8 improve their understanding of heart disease.

The pilot will provide support and information on how to live a healthy life, how to improve heart health and prevent problems, how to cope with a diagnosis of heart disease and, how to get support when recovering from a stroke.

As part of the Heart of our city programme, the Irish Heart Foundation has produced a leaflet with all the information people need to keep their heart healthy. The leaflet also outlines the various supports available through the Heart of our city programme to help everyone keep active and live well.

The supports available include:

• Information on heart health, ways to eat healthily and be active
• Heart and stroke support services
• Access to social prescribing activities such as gardening, dance classes or yoga.

The overall aim of the Heart of our City project is to improve the heart health of those that live in Dublin 8 and reduce the rate of unplanned cardiovascular hospital admissions by connecting people with a range of resources to support their heart health. It is also hoped that the model and lessons learned from this pilot can be applied to other chronic diseases in the future.

Commenting on the launch, Dr Angie Brown, Medical Director with the Irish Heart Foundation, said, “We are really pleased to have the opportunity to work with Novartis and Smart D8 on this innovative project focused on the local community in Dublin 8. Heart disease and stroke have a devastating impact on families across Ireland and we know that 80 per cent of this is preventable. A key challenge is in empowering people to make the changes they need to lead healthier lives and that is the focus of this project.”

Audrey Derveloy, General Manager Ireland, Novartis Ireland, said, “Novartis are proud to partner with Smart D8 and the Irish Heart Foundation on this project.  With the healthcare challenges and inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic, it is even more important for organisations to partner on preventive healthcare approaches like Heart of our City. This is a critical time for us to explore how we can pivot away from simply treating disease, to instead collaboration and prevention.”

Orla Veale, Project Lead, Smart D8, said, “Smart D8 is delighted to collaborate with the Irish Heart Foundation and Novartis on the Heart of our City project that is responding directly to the needs of the community. Smart D8 aims to transforms the health and wellbeing of citizens, and this project will make a real impact.”

A free public information event on Heart of our City, The Irish Heart Foundation and community supports will take place online on Wednesday, October 13^th at 7.30pm. If you wish to attend and learn how to look after your heart health, please register your interest by emailing D8support@irishheart.ie.

Find out more about the Heart of our City project here