Organize A Public Forum On Women & Heart Disease

Introduction/Synopsis: 

The idea for this activity is to hold a town hall type meeting where all community leaders and the public at-large come together to learn about Women and Heart Disease. It can be a great way to get the people in your community aware and talking about heart disease.

How To:

• We suggest that you get in touch with your Mayor’s office, Chamber of Commerce, City Council, etc. and pitch the idea of them hosting a public forum on women and heart disease. Please see the template letter for you to use and make your own.
• Confirm a distinguished guest like the Mayor, Governor, a State or US legislator, etc will be in attendance. This will help you attain press coverage.
• Plan the panel: We suggest that you include a woman living with heart disease who is willing to tell their story; a cardiologist; a cardiac nurse; yourself or a WomanHeart Spokesperson; and any other relevant people to the topic. Remember keep your panelists to about 4-8. You don’t want to have too many speakers as you want to ensure enough time to have a question & answer period.
• Once you hear back from your town leaders and they have agreed to host the event, contact your local papers and ask them to announce the event in papers, website, bulletins, etc. Remember to include all exciting details, like guest speakers and number of attendees expected.
• Use your own presentation or the template presentation in the Support Coordinator’s resource kit on women and heart disease. Remember to make the presentation your own and tell your story. Nothing grabs attention better than your personal story.
• Once you have approximate number of attendees, contact the National Office, with plenty of time, to order enough Red Bags of Courage © for the event.
• See if you can have the event video taped. This will be good to document and if successful to improve upon for future years.
• Make sure to follow-up with the press that was in attendance to be sure an article will be written.

Presentation Suggestions:

• You should open the event with a few words about Women and Heart Disease and WomenHeart. Consider showing the WomenHeart DVD.
• Have a woman from your support group, a WomenHeart spokesperson, or yourself tell their story.
• Have a cardiologist or cardiac nurse or other health care professional talk about Heart disease in women 101.
• Make sure either you or the health care professionals talk about risk factors and prevention.
• Open up a question and answer period.

Sample Letter for a Public Forum

[Date]

Dear Mayor/ Governor/ Senator/Representative:

I am writing to ask you to take a stand against women and heart disease. Did you know that there are more than 44 million women who are living with or at risk of heart disease and it is the number one killer of women? Did you know within one year of a heart attack, 38 percent of women will die compared to 25 percent of men and of those who survive, 35 percent of women will have a second heart attack compared to 18 percent of men? Did you know that an estimated eight million American women currently live with heart disease and nearly half a million women have heart attacks each year? 

Many women can significantly reduce their risk of heart disease if they have the information they need, know the questions to ask their health providers and receive the support to make heart-smart changes in their lives. We need to educate the public in our community about these staggering facts and get the word out about women and heart disease and prevention factors.

I implore you to take action in our community by hosting a Public forum on women and heart disease.  If you, as our community leader, take a stand on women and heart disease, we will be able to get the work out to all women in our region.  

I am a representative of WomenHeart, and am willing to plan and organize this event. WomenHeart is the only national organization solely devoted to advancing women’s heart health through advocacy, community education and patient support. WomenHeart is both a coalition and a community of more than 17,000 members nationwide, including women heart patients and their families, physicians and health advocates committed to helping women live longer, healthier lives. Visit www.womenheart.org for more information on WomenHeart.

I will follow-up with your office in a few weeks to confirm your attendance for this event and to help get the word out about women and heart disease.

Sincerely,

Your Name