Global Alliance on Heart Failure & Healthy Aging Launches Best Practices Report on Heart Failure Detection, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care

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.

Latest Developments

We keep our members and partners in touch with the most recent updates and opinions in the worldwide dialogue on population longevity and related issues.

Best Practices for Engaging a Multigenerational Workforce

Employers are grappling with a myriad of workforce-related issues ranging from productivity to attracting and retaining talent, but many may be overlooking some seismic shifts that are reshaping the future of work: longevity, population aging, and the multigenerational workforce.

Brazil Must Fight Antibiotic Resistance

The threat posed by antimicrobial resistance is urgent and spares no country - including Brazil. According to The Lancet, 63 deaths per 100,000 are associated with AMR in Brazil and Paraguay, a rate that exceeds the average for Latin America and the Caribbean. AMR-associated deaths in Brazil are second only to cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

More Than Half of Americans are Unfamiliar with Chronic Kidney Disease, Survey Finds

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major blind spot for many Americans, a new survey suggests. The poll, conducted by the Global Coalition on Aging, asked 1,000 American adults about their understanding and perception of CKD. Though many respondents used the internet for medical information and had a regular doctor and blood work done once or twice a year, 58% of respondents said they were unfamiliar with the illness.

We Missed 100 Million Adult Vaccines – Here’s How We Get Back on Track

Like other pandemics throughout human history, COVID-19 has caused profound changes that are still rippling through our societies, even as people are understandably eager to move on. In fact, these impacts are all the more dangerous when they are largely ignored or effectively invisible. The decline in adult vaccination may be one of the most significant, as a new report finds that ~100 million doses were missed in 2021 and 2022 alone – reversing global progress towards widespread adult immunisation as a new standard of care in a world of more old than young.

New Analysis Shows Lost Ground on Adult Immunisation During the Pandemic with 100 Million Doses Potentially Missed

New data shared today by GSK, in collaboration with the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science and the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), estimate approximately 100 million fewer doses of some adult vaccines (excluding Covid-19 vaccines) were administered in 2021 and 2022 than anticipated, based on the global vaccination adoption trends observed from 2013 to 2020, compounding already low adoption rates pre-pandemic.

Going Beyond Applause: The Potential of Caregiving to Unlock Job Opportunities of the Future

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of caregivers – staff and family who provide care for older and dependent people to carry out activities such as eating or moving - catapulted to the front of our collective conscience. The daily applause for front-line care workers showed a high level of recognition for their incredible work and provided insight into how our health systems must change as our society ages. We need to continue to recognise caregivers as essential to our ageing society.

High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy 2023

Join us for the High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy 2023. Now in its fourth year, the Silver Economy Forum 2023, December 6 and 7, will explore aging at every stage of life, looking at the growing global Silver Economy through a multigenerational lens. Linking to the goals and aspirations of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, SEF 2023 will highlight key themes at the intersection of aging at every age, and the Silver Economy.