Global Coalition On The report highlights the importance of better detection and earlier diagnosis, a life-course and multidisciplinary management approach to heart failure (HF), and care-delivery models that are suited to older adults.
24 September 2020 – Today, the Global Alliance on Heart Failure and Healthy Aging, convened by the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), is launching the report Tackling Heart Failure As We Age: Best Practices in Heart Failure Detection, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care. The paper demonstrates that heart failure (HF) is not a normal part of the aging process but in fact can be more effectively detected and diagnosed to ensure better treatment and management of HF. By offering a clear set of success factors to improve prevention and care for heart failure and highlighting case studies from the United States and Europe, the report aims to help reduce the ageism associated with HF and therefore improve the lives of those with and at risk of HF.
“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, progress in heart failure care was stalled. Survival after a diagnosis of heart failure has only modestly improved in the 21st century and lags behind other serious conditions” said Michael W. Hodin, PhD, CEO of GCOA. “It’s time to rethink the way our health systems detect, diagnose, treat and care for people with heart failure. We must start by addressing the ageism that adversely shapes how we approach older people with symptoms and results in delayed or non-diagnosis too often until it’s too late.”
More people die annually from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than from any other cause. As populations age, urbanization spreads, and the control of infectious and childhood diseases improves CVD prominence rises alongside things like high-fat diets, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles. The increase in CVD deaths during the current COVID-19 pandemic, because of the increased risk of contracting COVID-19 or because of the lack of or hesitation to seeking medical care, points to questions about optimal treatment and care.
The report underlines the inadequacies of today’s health systems to deal with HF as the population of older adults keeps growing. It identifies four best practice areas to help improve HF diagnosis and care, and therefore the lives of patients living with HF and overall health system costs.
- Early heart failure detection and diagnosis efforts must be enhanced.
- Patients must be empowered through a life-course approach to prevention, detection, and management of heart failure.
- Multidisciplinary care teams led by clinicians with specialized training in cardiology can meet the varied and changing needs of people with heart failure and their families and can help to ensure seamless transitions and closely coordinated treatment efforts.
- Health systems should embrace innovative care-delivery models suited to older patients.
As HF affects at least 26 million people around the world, it is notably one of the few cardiovascular conditions that is increasing in prevalence—the total cost of heart failure is predicted to increase 127% by 2030. Lending urgency to the challenge, the World Heart Federation’s heart failure roadmap estimates that there are 11.7 million cases of undiagnosed HF globally.
“Mortality linked to heart failure remains high, with 45-60% of people dying within the five years following a first admission to the hospital. This results in increased costs for healthcare systems, and most importantly in lower quality of life for patients and huge emotional burden for families” highlights Jean-Luc Eiselé, CEO, World Heart Federation and member of the Alliance’s Governing Board.
As the global population over 60 is predicted to double by mid-century, reaching 2 billion, it is more urgent than ever for health systems to rethink their response to HF.
To learn more about these key areas for action, you can access the report by clicking here.
To learn more about GCOA’s work to highlight innovative approaches to heart failure diagnosis and care as we age, you can view GCOA’s cross-sectoral session on heart failure, data, digital solutions and patient empowerment that took place during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2020. The session was part of the first-ever “information and communication technologies and older persons” track at WSIS.
CONTACT
Melissa Gong Mitchell
Executive Director
Global Coalition on Aging
[email protected]
+1 646 404 1149
ABOUT THE GLOBAL ALLIANCE ON HEART FAILURE & HEALTHY AGING
The Global Alliance on Heart Failure & Healthy Aging is the result of a series of successive roundtables convened by the Global Coalition on Aging in 2018. The meetings collectively brought together more than 70 experts from across sectors, disciplines and geographies who identified the connection between heart failure and aging. The group works together to advance this dialogue as a new opportunity to improve patients’ quality of life, better meet patient and caregiver needs, and better manage health systems costs related to heart failure by diagnosing patients as early as possible and ensuring their access to the best available treatments.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL COALITION ON AGING
The Global Coalition on Aging aims to reshape how global leaders approach and prepare for the 21st century’s profound shift in population aging. GCOA uniquely brings together global corporations across industry sectors with common strategic interests in aging populations, a comprehensive and systemic understanding of aging, and an optimistic view of its impact. Through research, public policy analysis, advocacy, and strategic communications, GCOA is advancing innovative solutions and working to ensure global aging is a path to health, productivity and economic growth.