BIG BEATS 2015 ANNUAL REVIEW
BIG BEAT #01
75% reduction in the death rate from heart disease since we began our work, but heart disease is still New Zealand’s biggest killer.
Heart Foundation
BIG BEATS Annual Review 2015
P. 02 — 03
HEART DISEASE DEATH RATES ARE FALLING. BUT THE FIGHT’S NOT OVER YET... Looking at the first of our ‘Big Beats’, we could be forgiven for patting ourselves on the back. With the help of our generous supporters, the Heart Foundation’s research and training investment has now exceeded $50 million, playing a part in the dramatic fall in death rates from heart disease. However, the simple fact remains that heart disease is still New Zealand’s biggest killer, taking more than 6500 of our mums, dads, sons and daughters every year. Our fight is not over yet. The Heart Foundation has a strong history of funding ground-breaking heart research and cardiology training. Since our formation, we have awarded 179 Fellowships and scholarships
to enable our most promising researchers and cardiologists to train at world-leading institutions, before bringing their skills and knowledge home. We have also funded 1446 research project grants, small project grants, grants-in-aid, travel grants and summer studentships. To further improve the research landscape in New Zealand, we have established two research chair positions, one at the University of Otago and one at the University of Auckland. We believe that continuing to invest in research and training is one of the most strategic steps we can take to stop people dying from heart disease, and improve the lives of those living with it.
BIG BEAT #02 THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS, THE HEART FOUNDATION IS NEW ZEALAND’S LEADING INDEPENDENT FUNDER OF HEART RESEARCH.
$
52.4m
BIG BEAT #03 $52.4 MILLION AWARDED (AS AT END OF FINANCIAL YEAR 2015) TO FUND VITAL RESEARCH AND CARDIOLOGY TRAINING SINCE 1970.
I’m thrilled that the Heart Foundation saw the high value in this kaupapa (purpose). Without the support of organisations and institutions like the Heart Foundation, vital research such as my work with Māori simply would not happen. Dr Geoff Kira Massey University Dr Geoff Kira is the Heart Foundation’s Māori Cardiovascular Research Fellow. Our funding is enabling Dr Kira to modify current or develop new cardiac rehabilitation programmes to improve the uptake and adherence of Māori patients.
179 BIG BEAT #04 179 FELLOWSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED TO FURTHER THE SKILLS OF OUR BRIGHTEST CARDIOLOGISTS AND RESEARCHERS.
Heart Foundation
BIG BEATS Annual Review 2015
P. 04 — 05
One of the hardest things about my heart attack was not knowing what would happen next. And it wasn’t just me – my family had questions too. HeartHelp has enabled us to understand more about my heart attack and shown us what we can all do to help my recovery. Keith Taulahi suffered a heart attack at the young age of 36. Since then the New Zealandborn Tongan father of five girls has followed the advice on our HeartHelp website. By attending cardiac rehabilitation and changing his lifestyle, Keith is now well on his way to leading a full and active life.
ACHIEVING NATIONAL TARGETS
PROVIDING HEART HELP
SMOKEFREE NEW ZEALAND
Heart disease is New Zealand’s biggest killer and the Heart Foundation’s role is to lead the fight against it. We’ve been helping the primary health sector achieve the government’s two national heath targets – to provide more heart and diabetes checks and to give better help for smokers to quit.
Much of our work over the last financial year has been focused on providing support and guidance to people recovering from a heart attack and those living with heart disease.
With tobacco smoking being one of the leading causes of heart disease, we strongly support the government’s goal of a Smokefree New Zealand by 2025.
We have updated our suite of heart health resources to make them more useful and easy to understand. Based on feedback from both the health sector and people living with heart disease, we refocused our resources to be shorter and easier to understand, we used plain language, and included simple and engaging infographics. We also took a multi-media approach and created animations to further support health literacy.
We have worked hard to influence and support the introduction of a Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill into Parliament. Alongside other providers such as Tala Pasifika and ASH, we are keen to see the Bill progress towards being passed as soon as possible.
As at 30 June 2015, 89% of eligible New Zealanders have had a heart and diabetes check against a target of 90%, up from 78% a year earlier. The target for smoking was reached, with 90% of smokers being offered support to quit when they presented at general practice, up from 86% a year earlier. To help the sector achieve these targets, we ran training sessions and workshops for Primary Health Organisations and health professionals. We held symposiums and gave talks at various conferences throughout the country. We also ran a public campaign in the South Island for younger men about ‘knowing your risk’ of heart disease. To reach the target of providing more heart and diabetes checks is world leading. It’s a credit to the primary care sector’s huge effort in completing more than 1.2 million checks. The next step in our journey is to help the sector put good management plans in place. Some in the sector are doing a fantastic job, while some need a bit more help.
This new approach is proving to be highly successful. Our blood pressure and cholesterol animations have been viewed over 1.2 million times and many of our new print resources have required urgent reprints due to their popularity. The highlight of this past financial year was the launch of our new HeartHelp website. This popular site aims to support people living with heart disease, and support their families, by bringing cardiac rehabilitation advice directly into a patient’s living room – all at the click of a mouse. HeartHelp offers free access to a wide range of heart health information and users can watch engaging videos, from both people who have personally experienced heart disease, and health professionals.
We are widening our support of smokefree environments. We strongly supported Local Government New Zealand’s call to have legislation implemented to prohibit smoking outside cafes, restaurants and bars. The Heart Foundation has this year also allocated funds to support research that will help towards achieving the Smokefree 2025 goal. In the last financial year, we trained more than 2000 healthcare professionals and non-registered healthcare workers to be more effective in helping others stop smoking. Recent figures show the number of Kiwis who smoke is falling at a steady rate. But in order to achieve a Smokefree New Zealand by 2025, there is still much more work to be done. We’re ready to step up to that challenge.
BIG BEAT #05
1.2 million Kiwis had their hearts checked in the last five years as part of the National Health Target to provide more heart and diabetes checks.
BIG BEAT #06
Our Learn by Heart website was launched in September 2014, allowing schools and early childhood education services to access everything they need to promote healthy eating and physical activity.
Heart Foundation
BIG BEATS Annual Review 2015
P. 06 — 07
I love doing the CPN nutrition sessions. Knowing that Pacific people are losing too many of our loved ones to heart disease makes me work even harder. I can’t change the world but I can try my best and help those who I come in contact with. Niuean Elfreda ‘Freda’ Hausi is a graduate of the Certificate in Pacific Nutrition (CPN) course run by the Heart Foundation’s Pacific Heartbeat team.
HEART-HEALTHY CHILDREN
FOOD & NUTRITION BIG BEAT #07
Our Education Team launched a new website, Learn by Heart, for the education sector in September 2014. This fresh, engaging website brings together our education programmes, making them more accessible and easy to achieve for Kiwi schools and early childhood education (ECE) services. Learn by Heart is already proving a success with feedback indicating users are much happier with the online processes. Another tool available for schools and ECE services is Fuelled4life, which helps them provide healthier food to their children and young people. Fuelled4life has experienced big growth in the last year, with the number of registered schools in New Zealand exceeding our own expectations with 64% of schools and 50% of ECE services now signed up. That amounts to 597,069 children across the country. Meanwhile, our popular Healthy Heart Award is bringing positive change in ECE services and their wider communities. An independent evaluation showed it’s not just children who are benefiting from the programme – families/ whanau and ECE service staff are also learning about healthy eating and physical activity. Finally, our much-loved Jump Rope For Heart programme celebrated its 30th birthday in 2015. This iconic physical activity and fundraising programme has helped more than 2.4 million Kiwi kids learn to skip and look after their hearts since 1985.
We also teach children about nutrition by working collaboratively with Foodstuffs’ Food for Thought programme, which helps students (years 5 – 6) learn about healthy eating. The programme includes a visit to a local Foodstuffs supermarket so students can get hands-on experience reading food labels.
FUELLED4LIFE HAS EXPERIENCED BIG GROWTH IN THE LAST YEAR, WITH THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED SCHOOLS IN NEW ZEALAND EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS.
Our work with the food industry doesn’t end there. We also encourage and support food manufacturers to reformulate their products, including those high in sodium such as breads, cereals and processed meats. Our food and nutrition manager Dave Monro recently led a study investigating changes in salt levels in New Zealand processed foods over the last 10 years. His paper shows food companies are making some progress in reducing salt levels but more work is needed for New Zealand to meet global targets. We will continue working with the food industry to reduce the amount of salt consumed by Kiwis. We also try to encourage healthy eating by publishing a range of cookbooks. Working in partnership with the New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services, we recently produced a heart-healthy cookbook called Cheap Eats, offering family-friendly food for less than $2.50 per serve. Lastly, one of the jewels in our crown of nutrition work is the Certificate of Pacific Nutrition (CPN) course. This is open to anyone working within Pacific communities. It teaches participants to improve Pacific peoples’ nutrition. The CPN course is a Level 4, 15-credit course run in partnership with the Auckland University of Technology.
BIG BEAT #08 OUR ICONIC JUMP ROPE FOR HEART PROGRAMME CELEBRATED ITS 30TH BIRTHDAY IN 2015.
$ 2.50 BIG BEAT #09 WE PRODUCED A HEARTHEALTHY COOKBOOK CALLED CHEAP EATS, WHICH OFFERS FAMILY-FRIENDLY FOOD FOR LESS THAN $2.50 PER SERVE.
HELP US ACHIEVE MORE BIG BEATS WE’RE NOT DONE YET To make a donation, go to heartfoundation.org.nz or call 0800 830 100