27 August 2020

An estimated 17.9 million people die each year from cardiovascular disease[1]. Globally, this number has increased by 41% between 1990 and 2013[2], making cardiovascular disease the most common cause of death worldwide, representing a significant financial burden on our global economy.

Beyond these figures, cardiovascular has a profound impact on the daily lives of people living with the condition. They may experience growing levels of anxiety and depression that in turn result in limited social interaction.[3] Alongside the physical impact, the emotional and social burden of cardiovascular disease can strongly impact a patient’s quality of life.

Quality of life is one of the most important components of the patient experience, but can be overlooked as part of a person’s ongoing care. Understanding and incorporating quality of life is integral to furthering our ambition to create a seamless pathway to better management of cardiovascular disease. But we cannot change this alone – we recognise the importance of standing in partnership with the patient community and consider how we can improve quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease.

We are proud to work with patient organisations and stakeholders across Europe to discuss improvements needed in cardiovascular disease management and how to best empower the voice of people with cardiovascular disease. This group, the One Heart Alliance, has a singular mission: ensure cardiovascular care is truly built around the patient in order to improve outcomes and quality of life.

Alan Keys,
Cardiovascular Care Partnership

When we first convened last fall, we agreed that the best way to empower people with cardiovascular disease was by inspiring them to become active in their journey by improving their awareness of their condition. Indeed, increased engagement from people with cardiovascular disease in their day-to-day health, can lead to improved quality of life. [1]

That’s why, in its first common project, the One Heart Alliance is working to make cardiovascular guidelines easier to understand for people with cardiovascular disease, who are often inundated with complex information from multiple sources advising on how to manage their disease and adhere to necessary therapeutic interventions. Understandably, this can be overwhelming or hard to digest. We’re working to develop patient-friendly pathway with the patient and medical community, simplifying leading clinical guidance to make it more accessible to people with cardiovascular disease and inspire productive discussions between patients, their caregivers and healthcare providers.

Luciana Valente,
International Relations Manager, SIHA

Following the launch of the patient-friendly pathway later this year, the One Heart Alliance will continue to develop initiatives to support people with cardiovascular disease in becoming active participants in the management of their disease(s) and to improve quality of life.

We are proud to stand with these patient groups, coming together to drive better disease management, improved outcomes and decreased mortality rates.

References:

1. World Health Organisation. WHO World Heart Day: Scale up prevention of heart attack and stroke: World Health Organisation; 2019 [cited 2019 Feb 19]. Available from: URL: https://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/world-heart-day/en/.
2. Roth GA et al. Demographic and epidemiologic drivers of global cardiovascular mortality. N Engl J Med 2015; 372(14):1333–41.
3. David L. Hare et al. Depression and cardiovascular disease: a clinical review. European Heart Journal 2014; 35(21):1365–1372.
4. Y. Bombard et al. Engaging patients to improve quality of care: a systematic review. Implement Sci. 2018; 13(98).

“The One Heart Alliance is supported and funded by AstraZeneca as part of its commitment to fostering discussion and driving initiatives improving the life of patients affected by CV diseases”

Putting quality of life into focus for cardiovascular disease (astrazeneca.com)