September is Irish Heart Month
September is proving to be a very busy month in terms of heart health in Ireland. The Irish Heart Foundation are running a month-long campaign to raise awareness around stroke prevention. They have created some fantastic resources which contain vital information around the issue and if you happen to be working in the area of cardiology or healthcare you can order posters and leaflets free of charge to display or give out at your workplace. Just click here for further information.
Innovative Approaches
There is also a clinical trial taking place in Ireland with five patients involving a device which allows heart failure patients to be monitored remotely meaning they can stay in their own homes as opposed to continuously travelling to hospital for appointments. A study in the US found that there was a 48% reduction of hospitalisations where the device was used. You can read more about the trial here.
Our Work
In keeping with the theme of heart health, we thought it would be a good opportunity for us to stop and take stock of the organisations we have worked with who are creating a lot of positive outcomes in the area.
Health Equality For The South East (HEFSE)
Health Equality For the South East (HEFSE) is a campaign group who are fighting for better cardiac cath lab facilities at University Hospital Waterford. The current cath lab covers an area of 500,000 patients yet it is only open from 9-5, Monday – Friday. This is (understandably) a precarious position for the people of the South East to be in. The efforts of HEFSE have yielded some returns as from the end of September there will be a mobile cath lab deployed to UHW however it still falls short of the 24/7 care that is required for the South East. The fight continues and we were truly privileged to have helped this cause. Click for more information on the HEFSE project.
Eagle Lodge Clinic
We have also worked with cardiologists throughout Ireland. Our first project in this area was a branding and website redesign for Eagle Lodge Clinic who have outlets in – Limerick, Kilkenny and Dublin. They were established in 1989 and are highly regarded as one of the top cardiac clinics in the country. We were tasked with injecting a bit of life into the overall brand and their digital presence and we like to think that the final outcome was not too shabby but why don’t you be the judge of that and see for yourself by visiting our Eagle Lodge case study.
NM Cardiology and The Heart Clinic
In more recent times we have worked Dr Paddy Owens and Dr Niall Mulvihill who have set up their own clinics. In both cases we were involved from the start which was very exciting. It has taught us a lot about messaging in the clinical field, on the one hand your brand must appeal to potential patients and provide them with clarity and reassurance around issues which can be very stressful at times. Then on the other side of it, you must communicate and instil trust within your peer network of other medical professionals so they think of you in terms of referrals etc. You can see the work we did with NM Cardiology and The Heart Clinic.
All in all, it has been a very fascinating journey for us as we continue to learn and develop the products and services we can offer in this very vital area.
