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The Heartlink meeting in the Lecture Theatre at Ealing Hospital on 4th April, heard Dr. Harmandeep Singh give a detailed explanation about strokes. Consultant Cardiologist Dr Harman is a Heartlink Trustee and is Clinical Lead for the Ealing Community Heart Failure Service.
A copy of his highly informative presentation is attached below.
He explained what a stroke is and the different types of stroke. He covered the warning that many people get of a major stroke get when they suffer a mini stroke (or ‘TIA’). He took us through the serious effects that strokes cause and how the NHS’s ‘FAST’ campaign on identifying strokes from a few years ago remains totally relevant today.
Not all hospitals are designated Stroke Centres and it is vital that a suspected stroke sufferer gets to one of these Centres quickly. For this reason, someone seeing a person probably having a stroke should call 999 rather than taking them to the nearest A& E.
He then explained the many steps anyone can take to reduce their stroke risks and how GP's can help us prevent strokes.
After a stroke, many make a significant recovery, but most survivors have some long term disability. Taking advantage of the NHS’s stroke rehabilitation services is key to maximising recovery.
His talk was followed by a lively questions and answer session with the 50 strong audience of Heartlink members and supporters.
Following an invitation from Ealing Gurdwara Heartlink members ran a highly successful stall in warm sunshine at the Sikh Vaisakhi celebration on Sunday 14th April. We spoke to hundreds of members of the community about aspects of heart health and gave out many British Heart Foundation booklets and our leaflets.
We received a great welcome from everyone. Many expressed their thanks for the work we are doing and a number will be attending our future events. This was another important step in our Community Heart Health Awareness Campaign. Many thanks to Krishanjit, Bachitar and Jaspreet who did all the work on the day.
At our Heart Health seminar in the Southall Community Alliance premises at Southall Town Hall on 14th March, Anish and his staff from Southall Pharmacy were good enough to conduct blood pressure tests for many attendees. These tests can be an important indication of whether a person's heart health needs further investigation.
On 9th April, a small group of Heartlink Committee members visited Southall Pharmacy in North Parade, North Road to personally thank Anish and his staff. We presented them with a certificate and a small gift of thanks. We were accompanied by Sunny Chana the Chair of the North Southall Primary Care Network Patient Participation Group (PPG) who facilitated the help they gave us.
Southall Pharmacy is actively developing its role as a community pharmacy, providing relevant advice and care to local people and Heartlink looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with them on our heart health awareness campaign across the local community.
A packed seminar at Southall Town Hall on 14th March listened to vital advice about heart health and how to reduce your risks. The seminar was given by Dr. Harmandeep Singh, Heartlink Trustee and Cardiology Consultant with Ealing Community Cardiology and at Ealing Hospital. It was organised by Heartlink in association with the West London Asian Society and Southall Community Alliance and held in SCA’s Southall Centre offices. Many attendees also had blood pressure tests carried out by Anish and his team from Southall Pharmacy.
Dr. Harman emphasised that, with a small amount of good advice, all of us can make simple changes to our lifestyle and diet which will reduce the likelihood of heart problems. He stressed the importance of getting the message over to people of all ages and starting good habits at as young an age as possible. This is particularly true for anyone of South Asian origin as their genetic makeup gives them a higher chance of having heart related health problems.
A FULL COPY OF HIS PRESENTATION CAN BE VIEWED BELOW.
This event was the latest in Heartlink's high profile Community Health Campaign.
Heartlink is looking for volunteers who it will help to train, to assist in ‘spreading the word’ about heart health in the community. We would like to thank Jaskaran Singh from the West London Asian Society for helping organise the event and Janpal Basran, the Manager of Southall Community Alliance and his staff for making us so welcome.
Over 40 Heartlink members and supporters enjoyed a unique mix of chair yoga and bhangra at our Community Hub on the 21st of March. Chair yoga is a regular and popular feature of the Hub, led by Mr Chana, and gives us all a good gentle exercise.
This time we followed it with a hugely enjoyable short session of chair bhangra, led by our supporter and benefactor, Councillor Mrs Mohinder Midha.
The track we played was ‘Kursi Bhangra’, the latest release by Channi Singh. Channi, who is a famous and popular international bhangra star, lives locally and, as a heart patient himself, has agreed to work with Heartlink as our ‘Heart Health Ambassador’ in the local community.
Attendees then enjoyed some delicious food, a good chat and a game of bingo. Everyone completed feedback forms which we will use to plan our future hub programme. The response was hugely positive and most encouraging.
Simple and sustained changes in your eating and drinking habits can greatly reduce your risk of heart problems. This was the message from Emmy West, the speaker at Heartlink’s well attended meeting on 7th March at Ealing Hospital. Emmy is a Cardiac Dietitian with Ealing Cardiac Health Rehabilitation service based at Hanwell Health Centre.
She explained that by reducing your intake of saturated fats and salt, you can help to reduce your blood cholesterol and blood pressure and get real health benefits. There are many delicious alternatives which are not expensive.
It was followed by a lively session of questions and answers which dealt with people's queries and concerns. Heartlink gave all attendees a copy of the NHS healthy ‘Eatwell Guide’ to use at home. Lots more useful information advice about a heart healthy diet is available on this website (see HERE) and also from the British Heart Foundation and NHS websites.
Heartlink members, most of whom suffer from heart disease and associated problems, heard Dr.Jane Beckford give a range of useful advice on how best to cope with the worry and stress caused by these problems.
Jane is a Counselling Psychologist in the Ealing Cardiac Rehabilitation Team from Imperial College Healthcare, which is based at Hanwell Health Centre. Many of us have a lot of difficulty coping with the worry and depression that being diagnosed causes us. A copy of Jane’s useful presentation is AVAILABLE HERE
The packed meeting of 60 members and supporters also heard a short presentation from Sara Tavares, a Specialist Heart Failure Nurse based at Hanwell Health Centre, inviting relevant members to participate in a research project she is working on regarding ‘heart failure with preserved ejection fraction’. This condition affects a proportion of those people who suffer from heart failure.
We finished January with the successful launch of two regular courses for Heartlink members and supporters. Both are being held on Fridays at the venue for our Community Hub, Greenford Park Community Hall, close to Southall and Greenford.
At 11am till noon we have started a weekly Tai Chi (Qicong) course delivered by an experienced trainer. At the first session we had 30 attendees, and it will run for 10 weeks.
From 2 to 4pm on Fridays, at the same venue, we're holding our second IT training course, providing basic IT familiarisation using iPads. Attendees are also be helped to set up an e-mail account and to log on to NHS Services, including their own health information. We started the course with 11 new students who are assisted during the sessions by several more IT experienced Heartlink members. The course is now full and, if demand exists, we will run the course again after Easter.
Both these courses are targeted at helping local heart patients, by providing good gentle strengthening exercise and by helping them get basic IT skills and access to NHS services and communications. Digital exclusion is a big problem for many of our members.
Over 30 Heartlink members and supporters braved atrocious weather conditions to learn about echocardiogram tests from Professor Rosen on the evening of Thursday 4th January, at our first monthly meeting of 2024.
Many attendees had undergone echocardiogram tests themselves and were keen to understand how they work and what useful information they can tell cardiac health specialists. We learned that the different types of echocardiogram tests are some of the most revealing tests carried out to diagnose the main workings of the heart. At the same time, they have negligible risks or side effects, even if repeated many times. However, carrying out the tests requires trained and skilled health professionals. After a fascinating presentation, there was a lively question and answer session with many questions from people who had been the subject of echocardiogram tests themselves.
Click HERE for more information from the British Heart Foundation and to WATCH A VERY INFORMATIVE VIDEO.
Following a successful first course in 2023, Heartlink is starting its second course in early in 2024. The course was developed in partnership with Age UK Ealing and covers IT familiarisation and training.
It is aimed at those who are not familiar with using modern smart devices. The overall objective is to help combat digital exclusion amongst local communities and enable people to use the technology to access and deal with local NHS services, including accessing their own patient records.
13 members and supporters learned to use iPads to benefit from the first course, which was held weekly at our Community Hub location, Greenford Park Community Hall. The second course will be held at the same venue on Thursdays. Contact us if you are interested.
Heartlink’s Community Hub on the Southall/Greenford borders hosted its popular Christmas party on the afternoon of 21st December. Members and supporters were treated to a large selection of sandwiches, snacks, mince pies, cakes, fruit and treats, together with tea, coffee and special Christmas mulled wine. Everyone chatted with old friends and new acquaintances, for some who live on their own, it was a great opportunity to socialise. After the food everyone took part in the raffle and the team memory game. We all congratulated members Dolly and Amrik on their special anniversary. The hugely successful party marked the culmination of the first year of operation of our community hub.
80 Heartlink members packed out the dining area at West Middlesex Golf Club on 14th December and enjoyed a delicious Christmas meal in great company. Members celebrated the progress Heartlink has made in all areas of its work over the last year. After the food, our raffle raised vital funds for our activities in 2024. We were honoured by several special guests who joined us. These included:
· Councillor Mrs Mohinder Midha, with her husband, who during her year as Mayor worked tirelessly for us.
· Jaskaran Singh from West London Asian Society and Southall Community Alliance, with his wife.
· Councillors Harbajan and Ranjit Dheer, who have been steadfast supporters of Heartlink for many years.
· …and, last but not least, our President, Professor Jaspal Kooner who founded us in 1994 and took time out of his busy schedule to attend.
Heartlink was honoured to be awarded Team of the Year by Southall Community Alliance at its Annual Awards Ceremony on Saturday 25th November.
The award is in recognition of our work as a charity to help and support local heart patients and to raise awareness about heart disease in the local community. We have significantly increased our work and initiatives over the last year, and this award encourages us to redouble our efforts.
A group of 10 Heartlink members received the Award on the stage and took full part in a lively and varied award ceremony which recognised a number of local ‘unsung heroes’ and was attended by approximately 200 local people.
We would like to thank the Directors and Board of Southall Community Alliance for this honour. Heartlink members are pictured with Jaskaran Singh, a leading board member, Channi Singh, an internationally famous singer and musician, who is a proud product of the Southall community and our long-time supporter and benefactor Cllr Mrs Mohinder Midha, who presented many of the Awards.
Our Heartlink Trustees Dr Harmandeep Singh and Dr Amarjit Sethi between them visited three Southall and Ealing Gurdwaras (places of worship) in late October and early November, to give short talks to the congregations about how to reduce their risks from heart disease.
This forms part of our campaign to raise awareness about heart disease in the wider community.
On each occasion they were supported by a team of Heartlink members who ran a stall and talked to attendees as they arrived and afterwards. We gave out many leaflets and British Heart Foundation advice booklets and did our best to answer people’s questions about heart conditions and risks. The talks were very well received, and a good number of people asked for details about Heartlink & our activities.
The Gurdwaras were those on Western Rd and Havelock Rd, Southall and Drayton Bridge Road, Ealing.
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