WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease Announces Class of 2014 WomenHeart Champions

40 women heart disease survivors commit to changing lives and communities by becoming community educators, Support Network Coordinators for other women living with heart disease - leading cause of death in women

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WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease

Oct 22, 2014, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease is pleased to announce that 40 women living with heart disease graduated from the fall 2014 WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to become WomenHeart Champions – a national volunteer corps of women heart disease survivors trained as community educators, advocates and spokespersons to lead the fight against the leading cause of death in women – heart disease. The work of these women will change lives and communities by empowering women to take charge of their heart health.

WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease announces the class of 2014 WomenHeart Champions - 40 women heart disease survivors become community educators, advocates, national spokespersons and Support Network leaders for other women living with heart disease - the leading cause of death in women

The fall 2014 WomenHeart Champions join 650 inspirational women from around the country honored with the WomenHeart Champion title to become the "boots on the ground" in the fight against heart disease. Twenty seven of the new WomenHeart Champions graduated from the Science & Leadership Symposium as Community Educators, and 13 graduated as Support Network Coordinators to lead a monthly WomenHeart Support Network in their community. WomenHeart's Support Network Coordinator program is the nation's only peer-led support program for women living with heart disease. Eleven of the 13 new WomenHeart Support Network Coordinators will lead their Support Network at a WomenHeart National Hospital Alliance member hospital – a network of hospitals that have a partnership with WomenHeart to advance women's heart health in their community and lead efforts to save women's lives.*

"There are 42 million women at risk for heart disease in the U.S. and a staggering 8 million of them live with some form of heart disease. WomenHeart Champions offer lifesaving information to other women who are at risk for heart disease and might not even know it," said Mary McGowan, Chief Operating Officer of WomenHeart. "Women who have heart disease often experience anxiety, isolation, and depression as a result of their heart disease diagnosis. WomenHeart Champions who are Support Network Coordinators offer vital peer-to-peer support to other women living with heart disease to help them thrive despite their diagnosis," she continued. "The fall 2014 WomenHeart Champions and Support Network Coordinators will continue to enhance the quality of life of women living with heart disease in their community and to advance the understanding of women's heart health in their communities and on the national stage," she added.

WomenHeart Champion Community Educators will work in their communities to provide both primary and secondary prevention to women about heart disease as their leading health risk. Community Educators are available to speak and do media interviews so that women and their families can better understand heart disease risk and how to live a heart healthy life.

The fall 2014 WomenHeart Champions hail from 19 states and a broad range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. They are from La Cañada, CA; North Hills, CA; Victorville, CA; Bakersfield, CA; Carlsbad, CA; Kalispell, MT; Colorado Springs, CO; Houston, TX; Sugar Land, TX; Euless, TX; Coon Rapids, MN; Northfield, MN; Stewartsville, MN; Columbia, MO; St. Peters, MO; Kansas City, MO; Brownstown, MI; Chicago, IL; Fort Wayne, IN; Cincinnati, OH; Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; Rose, NY; Flushing, NY; Coopersburg, PA; Lancaster, PA; Silver Spring, MD; Elkridge, MD; Arlington, VA; Norfolk, VA; Pacolet, SC; Cecilia, LA; Miami, FL; Miami Springs, FL; Oldsmar, FL and Boca Raton, FL.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women and more women than men have died from heart disease every year since 1984. Each year since 2002, women heart disease survivors from around the country have taken part in a nationally competitive application process to be selected to attend WomenHeart's annual Science & Leadership Symposium at Mayo Clinic to become the voice of heart disease and women in their communities and on a national scale.

The WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium is a four day national conference led by Mayo Clinic's leading cardiologists and other medical and health experts, and experts in policy, advocacy, communications, and Support Network development and implementation. In addition to being trained as community educators, advocates, spokespersons, and Support Network Coordinators, participants receive training in the areas of diagnostics, technology, and treatment, including drug and device protocols, lifestyle and food management, and meditative techniques to reduce stress.

The fall 2014 WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium is sponsored by Sanofi-Regeneron, Boston Scientific, Astellas Pharma, Inc. and Gilead Sciences, Inc.

WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease is the nation's first and still only patient-centered organization serving the 42 million American women living with or at risk for heart disease – the leading cause of death in women. WomenHeart is solely devoted to advancing women's heart health through advocacy, community education, and the nation's only patient support network for women living with heart disease. WomenHeart is both a coalition and a community of thousands of members nationwide, including women heart patients and their families, physicians, and health advocates, all committed to helping women live longer, healthier lives. Visit us at www.womenheart.org to receive free online heart health information.

*WomenHeart National Hospital Alliance member hospitals who sent women heart patients to the fall 2014 Science & Leadership Symposium are: Norton Women's Heart and Vascular Center (Louisville, KY), Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute (FL), Boca Raton Regional Hospital (FL), Parkview Heart Institute (Fort Wayne, IN), Bakersfield Heart Hospital (Bakersfield, CA), Texas Heart Institute (Houston, TX), North Shore LIJ Katz Institute for Women's Health (New Hyde Park, NY) and University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City, KS).

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SOURCE WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease