West is best as Croí scheme boosts health of 1,100 residents

The State could save millions of euro in heart disease treatment if a model adopted by a west of Ireland cardiology charity was implemented nationally, an economic evaluation has found.

An independent analysis of the MyAction programme run by heart and stroke charity Croí says it has yielded an estimated €4.8 million in benefits for an investment of €700,000 over the past five years.

This translates into benefits of €8 for every €1 spent by the charity on a free support programme for those who have experienced, or who are at high risk of contracting, heart disease.

The analysis, published for World Heart Day today, was conducted by Optimity Matrix economists, and paid for by the Government’s Healthy Ireland programme.

Lifestyle

It was asked to assess the impact of MyAction, a 12- to 16-week lifestyle change course run by Croí since 2009 in Galway.

The risk-factor management programme was developed by Imperial College, London, in 2007.

It is the only one of its type in the State, and meets European Society of Cardiology guidelines.

It was largely financed through Croí’s fundraising efforts.

The programme aims to reduce Ireland’s high risk of cardiovascular disease which accounts for 33 per cent of all deaths and is high in comparison with the averages in Europe.

Ireland records 52 premature deaths per 100,000 from this disease compared to a European average of 42 deaths per 100,000.

Mortality can be reduced by up to 90 per cent with risk-factor management, through changes in lifestyle and cardio-protective medication, the study says.

It notes that over 1,100 west of Ireland residents have benefited from the programme in the past five years.

Some 617 of these participants were “high- risk” individuals.

The health benefits achieved by participants included a 51 per cent quit rate in smoking – the impact of which equates to a 50 per cent reduction in cardiac events.

There has also been an average weight reduction of 3.7 kg,and greater adherence to the “Mediterranean diet”, which is directly linked to a reduction in heart attack and stroke risk.

Meeting blood pressure and cholesterol targets also improved significantly, according to the analysis of objective medical tests.

Third tier

Croí's director of prevention programmes Irene Gibson said the programme – which could be seen as a "third tier" of healthcare – "shows how our health service could be reshaped".

She added: “With adequate investment we could move from a reactive service, which is overly reliant on acute hospital care and expensive cardiac procedures, to a more proactive preventive model.”

The Galway programme was recently selected as Ireland’s example of best practice in chronic disease management.

Case study

Galway solicitor Lorna Burke believed she was a very healthy, very fit smoker when she crashed to the floor in the middle of making a cup of tea in 2008.

She was 55, a mother, an experienced hunter with the Galway Blazers, but someone who “just worked, with very little play” at the time, she says.

Her husband knew something was wrong, though she says she “felt nothing”, but recalled not being able to talk for a short while.

Her GP referred her to hospital, by which time she was “speaking perfectly well”.

“I had two cigarettes outside the hospital with my daughter and I have not had one since,” she says, adding that a “stiff lecture” by her consultant was a major factor in that decision.

After surgery to clear out her artery, she signed up for the Croí MyAction programme and has not looked back.

"I'm no Mother Teresa, and I hated walking and was not a gym bunny, but a client of mine recommended cycling to work," she says.

The free MyAction programme “taught me more than I have ever learned about anything”, she says.

“I would not be as good as I am today without Croí, and it was great fun.”

To mark World Heart Day, Croí is hosting a 15-minute walk to and from Browne doorway in Eyre Square, Galway today, from 1pm.