A support group is attended by people who have heart failure, like you, and provides people with a place to share their experiences with each other. Often these groups will have educational sessions, as well as general discussions about the ways you can help to manage your heart failure, such as diet and exercise.
Many people find support groups to be useful in coping with their individual problems and the emotional aspects of the condition. People are comforted by the knowledge that they are not alone in their anxiety. They may provide the opportunity to meet someone who has a device or perhaps a heart transplant. Support groups can also be a useful source of information for you and your family. Your nurse or doctor may know of a local group in your area.
This guide for patients from the European Society of Cardiology aims to provide an overview of the latest evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure.
In particular, it should help patients to understand the:
A series of 9 simple, captivating animations explaining heart failure and its treatment.
These narrated animations explain how a healthy heart works, what happens to it in heart failure and how various treatments work to improve your health.
How the normal heart works
What goes wrong in heart failure
How the heart and body compensate in heart failure
How heart failure causes fluid accumulation
How a heart attack can cause heart failure
How abnormal heart valves can cause heart failure
How vasodilators work in heart failure" />
How vasodilators work in heart failure
How diuretics work in heart failure
How medical devices work in heart failure
Click to print these tools to help you monitor your heart failure
In this section you can watch, listen or read interviews with other people with heart failure and their caregivers.
What strategy did you use to understand Heart failure and how to live with it?
What is self-care? And what can you do to improve your daily basis with heart failure?
Patient in exercise training
What would you like to say to healthcare professionals about the importance of quality of life?
How the ESC Patients Guidelines can improve decision making?
How did your role as patient representative helped you with your diagnosis?
Patient with an ICD
Adjusting lifestyle and staying optimistic
Living with heart failure devices
Living with an LVAD
How to manage heart disease and pregnancy
What is heart failure in congenital heart disease?
What can patients do to live better with heart failure and congenital heart disease?
What treatments are available for people with heart failure and congenital heart disease?
An LVAD as a bridge to transplantation
and share your own views and experiences with other patients, families and caregivers.
The heartfailurematters.org website was developed under the direction of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The ESC is a world leader in the discovery and dissemination of best practices in cardiovascular medicine. Our members and decision-makers are healthcare professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to represent professionals in the field of cardiology in Europe and beyond.
The HFA is part of the European Society of Cardiology, a nonprofit Association established under French Law of 1901 and is dedicated to heart failure patient management and increasing the awareness of heart failure as a global health problem.
Our updated and improved website has just been launched with the latest information on heart failure for patients and caregivers.
Watch the video below to learn how to navigate the site and quickly access the information you need.
