May 11, 2020 The American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) is collaborating with Intervent International to provide its members and their patients free access toIntervent's evidence-based, personalized, online/digital, educational resources and content. The collaboration is a patient-centered initiative to help adults play an active role in their own heart health during the COVID-19 pandemic, including heart attack/stroke prevention and recovery after a cardiac event.

As emphasized in a recent ASPC scientific statement, adults who fare poorly with COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection more commonly have risk factors for (e.g., high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes) and/or known cardiovascular disease. Moreover, while it is especially important to lead a healthy lifestyle and manage chronic medical conditions during COVID-19, traditional outpatient care services have been significantly disrupted. Many patients are delaying or deferring necessary care, including preventive care. In addition, social distancing has negatively altered physical activity and eating habits in many adults and is contributing to higher-than-usual stress levels. To make things worse, virtually all facility-based cardiac rehabilitation programs for those who have recently experienced a cardiac event (e.g., heart attack, angioplasty/stent, bypass surgery) have temporarily closed. If not promptly addressed, such changes are likely to adversely impact cardiovascular health.

In response to these challenges, as part of the ASPC/Intervent collaboration individuals can sign up for free at http://www.myintervent.com/aspc to: Take an online health assessment and receive personalized feedback/educational content. Enroll in a self-help/digital, online lifestyle management and cardiovascular disease risk reduction program. Participate in monthly live group webinars. The educational services are designed to help individuals make and adhere to meaningful lifestyle changes, better manage their risk factors for heart disease and stroke and, if needed, recover more successfully from a recent cardiac event. Topics include understanding heart disease, preventing and managing risk factors for heart disease, nutrition, exercise/physical activity, weight management, stress management and smoking cessation. The services are to be used as a supplement to, and not a replacement for, the advice of a physician or other healthcare provider.

"There is an urgent need during these unprecedented times to deploy innovative, evidence-based approaches to promote and preserve the health of populations at higher risk of cardiovascular disease," said Amit Khera, M.D., president of ASPC and lead author of the recent ASPC COVID-19-related scientific statement. "Given the fundamental importance of lifestyle management and other proven cardiovascular disease risk reduction strategies, we are pleased to play a role in providing ASPC's members and their patients free access to credible educational content and resources for use as a supplement to their usual medical care."

Neil Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Intervent, said, "The ASPC is to be complimented on the leadership role it is playing on multiple fronts to benefit society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the best of circumstances, it can be very challenging for many people to lead a healthy lifestyle and take other steps needed to prevent or better manage heart disease. We are especially proud to collaborate with the ASPC during this global crisis to help benefit the health and wellbeing of as many people as possible by leveraging some of our proven online/digital lifestyle management and cardiovascular disease risk reduction resources."

Here is the original post:
American Society for Preventive Cardiology Offers Survey to Aid Healthy Lifestyle During COVID-19 - Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology