Every year, an estimated 2 – 3 million people worldwide die because they cannot afford pacemaker implant surgery. That is why for 40 years, ForHearts Worldwide has been providing life-saving cardiovascular devices, implant procedures, and follow-up care and monitoring to people in need in developing countries around the world.
Our mission is in our name—to do all we can ForHearts in need. We are excited to expand the reach of our mission through our new alliance with the Pacemaker Club.
“The Pacemaker Club is a natural extension of our mission to save lives, provide lifelong care and support for our patients, as well as support our patients, doctors and volunteers in education and training,” says Laura DeLise, Executive Director of ForHearts Worldwide.
We are kicking off our partnership with a brand-new website to host this online community, where people living with implantable cardiovascular devices can connect, share information, and support one other.
ForHearts Worldwide + The Pacemaker Club = Double the Impact
While the Pacemaker Club officially joined the ForHearts Worldwide family in 2023, our connection goes back much further with the founder of the Pacemaker Club serving as a past ForHearts Worldwide board member. The ForHearts Worldwide and Pacemaker Club partnership is driven by this shared experience and a shared vision—to expand future opportunities for equitable access to cardiovascular care for all! This includes creating a world where no patient faces their journey alone.
“Along with providing life-saving cardiovascular devices in pacemakers, CRTs and ICDS, it is just as important to ForHearts Worldwide to assist our patients, and patients across the globe, in living with their device,” emphasizes DeLise. “The Pacemaker Club will offer a place of support, encouragement and excitement for all those living with a cardiovascular implantable device.”
As part of this mission, we are excited to launch a new dedicated website for the Pacemaker Club with new features, resources and more ways to support and engage with the community of cardiovascular device recipients.
Connect on the Pacemaker Club Forum
The Pacemaker Club has always been an active online community for those living with implantable cardiovascular devices to share their experiences and offer mutual support. The heartbeat of this online community is the forum, and it’s now even more engaging and interactive with these new forum website features:
- Direct Messaging: Connect privately with other members for one-on-one conversations.
- Polls: Participate in fun and engaging polls to share your thoughts and insights.
- Your Discussions: Easily keep track of all your personal posts and threads in one place.
- Subscribe: Follow categories or topics that matter most to you.
- Bookmark: Save posts and revisit them anytime!
We hope these new forum features will help all members stay connected, informed, and supported.
Community Outreach and Education
For the first time, the Pacemaker Club is going offline and into the greater community with a new Community Outreach program. These outreach efforts are designed to foster connection, education, and support within our vibrant community and beyond.
“We want the community to be alive, interactive and a place for support, comfort and learning,” says DeLise.
We have a variety of initiatives that will be coming soon, including:
- Peer Support Networks: Connect one-on-one with fellow device recipients.
- Community Awareness Campaigns: Advocate for yourself and others by sharing the importance and global need for cardiovascular devices.
- Educational Workshops and Webinars: Learn from healthcare professionals and experienced community members on how to live your best pacemaker-powered life.
These educational initiatives will include the expertise of our ForHearts Worldwide community—the physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals supporting our patients and Heart Centers, as well as our leadership team, board members, staff and volunteers.
“As programs and additional functions of the site are developed, all of ForHearts Worldwide will be involved,” says DeLise. “We hope the Pacemaker Club will serve as an education forum, training station and a place for friends to meet up, talk, and share.”
Partners in Support
Partnerships are what make the ForHearts Worldwide mission possible. Corporate partnerships, especially partnerships with device manufacturers, provide the necessary funding and access to pacemakers that enable us to save thousands of lives around the world.
We are thrilled to extend the reach of our ForHearts Worldwide partnerships by offering corporate, business, and community partnership opportunities with the Pacemaker Club, creating a global alliance promoting cardiovascular health and supporting individuals with cardiovascular devices.
While anyone with an implantable cardiovascular device is a “member” of the Pacemaker Club, combining this community with the global reach, partnerships, and expertise of ForHearts Worldwide “will provide the general public an opportunity to support the entire cardiovascular implantable device community,” explains DeLise.
That support can range from general and in-kind donations to corporate sponsorship of events and programs to participation in awareness campaigns and educational sessions.
Says DeLise of the new partnership opportunity: “The Pacemaker Club will offer our donors, sponsors, and supporters the ability to see where their contributions are going, how they are strengthening our mission, growing our reach and enhancing our support of the cardiovascular implantable device community.”
Ready to be a part of this unique community?