Our programs and initiatives

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 
• People living in remote, rural and regional areas 
• Socioeconomically disadvantaged people  
• Culturally and linguistically diverse communities.  

Support elements include: 

• A booklet about their condition and priority actions for post-surgery recovery 
• A follow up phone call from a Heart Foundation Helpline professional. During this call, the health professional will check on the patient’s recovery and need for support 
• Access to useful information and resources  
• Online information and new printed materials. These materials covers heart health tips, and ways to reduce the risk of repeat heart attack and angina-related hospital admissions.  

The Smart Heart Guidelines app was developed and launched by the Heart Foundation and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) in November 2019. The app provides health professionals with access to clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of heart diseases, through interactive tools and calculators.  

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Improved monitoring for outcomes of cardiac rehabilitation 

• Levels of service available 
• Usage of these services 
• Barriers and opportunities to increase referrals to cardiac rehabilitation 
• Opportunities to improve the delivery of cardiac rehabilitation and patient outcomes. 

• Develop quality indicators for national cardiac rehabilitation  
• Consult widely on the development of quality indicators 
• Overcome barriers to collecting data for each indicator  
• Identify and collaborate with government stakeholders to support and endorse implementing the indictors.  

Pathway to Cardiac Recovery 

• Participate in physical activity 
• Minimise lifestyle risk factors 
• Manage chronic disease  
• Reduce their chance of having future heart events.  

• Learning more about their heart health 
• Visiting their general practitioner to have a heart health check 
• Increasing their levels of physical activity, specifically walking.  

The Heart Foundation estimates the Heart Health Checks could: 

• Prevent an average of 42 heart events every day for the next five years  
• Save more than 9,000 lives over the next five years.   

The action plan focuses on developing and prioritising initiatives to improve cardiovascular disease across: 

• Prevention and early detection  
• Diagnosis and treatment  
• Support and care  
• Research.   

This year, the Action Plan Steering Committee completed the: 

• Broad professionals and community consultation to inform the development of the action plan 
• Review of existing national, state and territory heart disease and stroke programs 
• Collation of the evidence behind the recommended priority actions in the Action Plan.   

Event highlights included: 

• A keynote address on the need for sex and gender analysis of the impact of heart disease across the life course 
• Hypertension in pregnancy  
• Emerging findings on tears in coronary arteries near the heart (SCAD) 
• Advances in the management of heart failure in women 
• Key priorities to address over the next two years, such as essential research in sex-disparities in heart health and increased public awareness.  

Other highlights of our work:

• Providing Government research and implementation priorities to reduce the impacts of heart disease on women  
• Delivering a successful advocacy campaign as part of the National Women’s Health Strategy 2020 to 2030    
• The expansion of the New South Wales hearts and heels cardiology format to other states 
• Influencing the work of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare to update their 2010 report on cardiovascular disease in women. The updated report was released in June 2019.  

• 10 out of 10 step challenge: 7,950 participants with an average of 9,009 steps each day 
• MotivApril: 11,530 participants with an average of 9,265 steps each day 
• Put your foot down step challenge: 17,409 participants with an average of 8,518 each day. 

• The development of the Walk Away from a Killer public awareness campaign 
• Updates and improvements to the walking program 

• Discussions at the Queensland government’s first Walking Summit 
• The launch of Australia’s first state-based walking strategy in Queensland  
• Presenting at the Adelaide event, Let’s Make Walking Great Again!, with Walking South Australia and the state health department. The Heart Foundation supports  the event’s call for a state-wide walking strategy. 

The Healthy Active by Design program supports local governments and developers to design and create built environments that enable healthy and active living.  

Park as a Suburb 

• Surfing the Spectrum –  an initiative that enables children with autism to access surfing lessons 
• Dancing on My Own in a Crowded Room –  a ‘silent disco’ for aged care residents, including those in beds and wheelchairs, at Mackellar Care Services aged care in Gunnedah, New South Wales.    

The two-year program focuses on: 

• Improvements to the built environment to support physical activity for older Australians 
• Community and health professional education and awareness of the benefits of walking for the heart health of older Australians 
• Building connections to the Heart Foundation Walking program. 

• Live in disadvantaged communities, including rural regions and areas of low socioeconomic status (SES) 
• People with a non-English speaking background 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

In response to high population salt consumption, the Victorian Salt Reduction Partnership (VSRP) was established in 2014, comprising peak public health organisations, including the National Heart Foundation, VicHealth, The George Institute for Global Health, Stroke Foundation and more.

On behalf of the partnership, the National Heart Foundation led on the delivery of a consumer awareness campaign, Unpack the Salt, food industry engagement and advocacy and government engagement from 2016-2019.

Learn more about Unpack the Salt