Engaging Women Strategy
With heart disease the No. 1 killer of Australian women, much needs to be done to stop it from having such an effect on our communities.
During 2008-2012, the Heart Foundation’s Engaging Women Strategy was designed to increase awareness of heart disease risks and ways to reduce it among Australian women aged 45-65. Following on from this, the strategy’s long-term goal is to reduce heart disease in Australian women.
How we’ll do it
- Comprehensive social marketing campaign to raise public awareness
- Data collation to develop a better picture of the burden of heart disease on Australian women
- Corporate and community fundraising activities to extend the reach of our key messages
- Greater engagement with health professionals and women’s networks to improve service provision and awareness
What we’ve done so far
- Established baseline and ongoing quarterly tracking survey to improve understanding of Australian women’s beliefs and attitudes towards heart disease
- Qualitative research to improve our understanding of attitudes, enablers and barriers of women and heart disease
- Launched Women and heart disease: Cardiovascular profile of women in Australia report
- Hosted Women and Heart Disease Forum with key stakeholders in November 2010
- Held an annual Go Red for Women campaign each June to raise awareness of women and heart disease, providing a public face for the overall Engaging Women Strategy
- Launched the Healthy Heart Challenge in June 2011, supporting more than 17,000 Australian women lead a more heart-healthy lifestyle
- Piloted local projects on raising awareness about women and heart disease, including reaching Aboriginal women and cultural and linguistically diverse women
- Ran industry forums with female leaders on women and heart disease
What’s next?
- Continue social marketing strategies to promote awareness of what women can do to reduce their risk of heart disease
- Continue the Healthy Heart Challenge, encouraging more women to reduce their heart disease risks
- Work with corporate sponsors to extend the reach of our messages
- Strategically use recommendations from the Women and Heart Disease Forum Report and findings from the Women and heart disease: Cardiovascular profile of women in Australia report
- Promote Heart Foundation programs that support healthier lifestyles, including the Tick program, the Heart Foundation Walking Program and Heartmoves
- Advocate for more research into the prevention, treatment and management of heart disease in women
- Enlist ambassadors to extend the reach of our messages through women’s health, social and professional networks
- Influence women’s health and social policy at state and national levels to develop better health systems for managing heart disease in metropolitan, rural and remote areas of Australia
That’s what we’re doing. What are you doing in the fight against heart disease?
Check out the Go Red for Women campaign to find out what you can do.