How To Manage End Of Life Care In Heart Failure

Effective Strategies in Caring for Patients

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Sep 23, 2013, 12:00 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) 17^th Annual Scientific Meeting will feature a How-To Session entitled "Managing End-of-Life Care in Heart Failure," a one hour interactive conference focused on this specific group of heart failure patients. The session will be led by Ann Laramee, APRN-BC, and Erin Donaho, APN.

This session will offer practical skills to assist practitioners in identifying patients who may be nearing the end of their lives. The presentation will also focus on strategies that will help improve symptom management among these patients.

"This year's update to the heart failure guidelines offers an increased emphasis and recommendations for managing patients living with heart failure in their final phase of life," Ms. Laramee explains. "This session will address those updates with some new strategies for managing end-of-life care."

The presenters will also discuss a framework in which to determine patients' goals and wishes in the context of living with a serious illness.

The 17^th Annual Scientific Meeting is a four-day forum for heart failure specialists to present research findings and advances in treatment. Presentations will address emerging trends in research and new developments in the approach to treating patients with all stages of heart failure.

For a complete list of annual meeting sessions or for details on attending the conference, call (617) 226-7193 or visit www.hfsa.org and click on Annual Scientific Meeting. There is also an app for the Annual Meeting available in the Apple Store by searching HFSA. There is no registration fee for accredited journalists. Interview areas will be available on-site in addition to a press room. You may follow news from the meeting on Twitter @HFSA and #HFSA.

About Heart Failure
Heart failure is a progressive condition in which the heart muscle becomes weakened after it is injured, most commonly from heart attack or high blood pressure, and gradually loses its ability to pump enough blood to supply the body's needs. Many people are not aware they have heart failure because the symptoms are often mistaken for signs of getting older. Heart failure affects 4.6 to 4.8 million individuals in the United States. Demographic and clinical evidence strongly suggests that the prevalence of heart failure will increase throughout the next decade. Ten to 15 years ago heart failure was considered a "death sentence;" however, recent advances in treatment have shown that early diagnosis and proper care in early stages of the condition are key to slowing, stopping or in some cases reversing progression, improving quality of life, and extending life expectancy. For more information on heart failure, please visit www.abouthf.org.

About the Heart Failure Society of America
The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) is a nonprofit educational organization, founded in 1994 as the first organized association of heart failure experts. The HFSA provides a forum for all those interested in heart function, heart failure research and patient care. The Society also serves as a resource for governmental agencies (FDA, NIH, NHLBI, CMS). The HFSA Annual Scientific Meeting is designed to highlight recent advances in the development of strategies to address the complex epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic issues of heart failure. Additional information on HFSA can be found at www.hfsa.org.

SOURCE Heart Failure Society of America