September 2007 | Vol. 25, No. 9

News of the Vascular Profession

Update on the P.A.D. Coalition’s Efforts and “Stay in Circulation” Week, Sept. 17-21

Stay in Circulation Week, Sept. 17-21, 2007, is just a couple of weeks away! Make plans now to have your vascular lab participate with special events that week. The “Stay in Circulation” campaign is a joint effort of the P.A.D. Coalition, with more than 50 member organizations including SVU, in conjunction with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, and the Vascular Disease Foundation.

P.A.D. in the News

In July, CNN NewsSource produced a feature on P.A.D. that was distributed to CNN affiliates across the country. The segment featured P.A.D. patient Rita Smith, who shared her story of living with P.A.D., and included an interview with NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. who highlighted clinical information on P.A.D. risk factors and treatment options. More than 215 television stations aired this P.A.D. segment, reaching an estimated audience of more than 2.5 million people.

P.A.D. received more coverage thanks to a placement in American Medical News, a publication distributed to members of the American Medical Association. The story, a feature on disease awareness campaigns, highlighted the Stay in Circulation campaign’s efforts to raise awareness about P.A.D. to the health care provider and consumer communities.

Educate Consumers and Patients with Ready-to-Use Tools

There are several ways that your vascular lab can utilize Stay in Circulation campaign resources to educate middle aged and older adults about P.A.D. Use the complete, ready-to-show P.A.D. PowerPoint presentation to hold an educational seminar at your lab or at a community event. You can also inform patients visiting your facility about P.A.D. by playing the full patient education video on a loop in your waiting area.

NCOA Senior Centers to Hold P.A.D. Seminars

The National Council on Aging (NCOA), one of our campaign partners and a member of the P.A.D. Coalition, is helping to raise P.A.D. awareness through its senior center network. Approximately 225 NCOA senior centers across the country have signed up to host P.A.D. educational seminars in August and September. These seminars will ensure that P.A.D. and Stay in Circulation campaign messages reach older adults nationwide.

Partner Spotlight: Vascular Disease Foundation

To date, the Vascular Disease Foundation (VDF) has distributed Stay in Circulation materials to increase P.A.D. awareness at 13 trade shows in 2007. Using Stay in Circulation artwork, VDF created its own banners to display at its booth at meetings such as AHA (attended by 26,000+ cardiovascular health professionals) and VEITH (attended by 2000+ vascular surgeons). The customized banners were used in conjunction with Stay in Circulation purple footstep decals and balloons to draw meeting attendees to the VDF booth. At the booth, VDF distributed Stay in Circulation fact sheets, buttons and stickers to interested persons to raise awareness about P.A.D. VDF will continue its use of the customized banners in September, when VDF and Stay in Circulation will be at the AARP Life@50+ Expo in Boston, which has an expected attendance of more than 25,000 seniors!