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Vascular diseases affect millions of Americans, yet public awareness
of their prevalence, ease of diagnosis, comprehensive choices
for treatment, and efficacy of rehabilitation remains quite
low. The Vascular Disease Foundation (VDF) was founded in 1998
in order to increase public awareness of all vascular diseases
and to provide public access to accurate, credible information
in an easy-to-understand format, designed for patient understanding.
The Foundation is guided by a Board of Directors whose structure
represents an example of intersocietal collaboration that was,
in fact, modeled after the success of the Intersocietal Commission
for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories. The Foundation
considers the ICAVL, the Society of Vascular Technology, each
vascular technologist, each vascular specialist, physician,
nurse and accredited vascular laboratory to be critical partners
in helping to provide quality vascular educational information
to the public.
The sponsoring vascular societies that have accepted our invitation
to serve as founding members on our Board of Directors include:
The Society of Vascular Technology, the American Association
for Vascular Surgery, the Society for Vascular Surgery, the
Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, the
Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology, the Society for Vascular
Nursing, and the American College of Cardiology. The Foundation
also has established a liaison relationship with primary care
clinicians through the American College of Physicians/American
Society of Internal Medicine and the American Academy of Family
Physicians. The Foundation serves the public directly, and includes
lay members of the public on its Board. The Foundation’s
Board also includes the Director of the National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
The
creation of improved public access to vascular disease information
is a large and challenging task. In order to accomplish our
goal, the Vascular Disease Foundation has determined to focus
its initial efforts to create and disseminate information on
peripheral arterial disease (PAD). This choice is due to the
high prevalence, associated risk of myocardial infarction and
stroke, and the disability of claudication and amputation, as
well as recent data that document low awareness of this disease
by the public. The Foundation’s mission takes this focus
into account as we seek to “reduce the widespread prevalence
and effects of peripheral arterial disease by increasing public
awareness of the benefits of its prevention, prompt diagnosis,
comprehensive management, and rehabilitation.”
The
Foundation began its outreach to the public last year by launching
its web site (www.vdf.org) which is currently receiving thousands
of visits each month. A brochure about PAD, designed for maximal
patient understanding, has been published. We have created a
free quarterly patient newsletter entitled, “Keeping in
Circulation” that can demystify PAD, create a sense of
community, offer ongoing educational information, and offer
information about risk factors, diagnostic methods, and care
plans. The Vascular Disease Foundation has worked with the American
Association of Retired Persons (AARP) at its annual convention
in Orlando last year, offering a display for its many thousands
of members, who gained access to the Foundation’s mission
and who received our message about the importance of recognition
of PAD.
Future
goals present exciting challenges. The Foundation’s web
site is being redesigned to offer more information for the public
and our new site will be better linked to our professional society
partners. We have created a model for a national program of
public service announcements that we will pilot in selected
national television markets in 2001-2002. With the enthusiasm
of our members, we are hopeful that regional chapters and patient
support groups may be established and that we will soon diversify
our efforts into venous and other vascular diseases. We will
distribute common educational messages and materials, characterized
by accuracy and excellence, that are readily available free
or at low cost at vascular care sites nationally.
The
Foundation and each of its members recognizes the central role
of the vascular laboratory which serves as the diagnostic gateway
for most patients with vascular diseases and often serves as
a site for patient education, initially and throughout the life
of the patient. We will seek to work with each laboratory to
serve our mutual mission of increasing awareness about PAD.
We acknowledge the educational role now played by so many laboratories
and hope to amplify your successes. We will champion the role
of the laboratory and of vascular technologists in patient and
community vascular education.
No
single vascular specialty or practitioner can, in isolation,
accomplish the task of national public vascular education. But
together, as partners with ICAVL member labs and the professional
societies, we can improve access to such educational resources
for all of our patients. The Foundation hopes to serve you with
information that will answer patients’ many questions about
PAD, providing a forum for information or networking, and altering
the perception that PAD is a disease that can be ignored. The
public must know that PAD can be prevented, easily diagnosed,
and effectively treated, with improvements in survival and quality-of-life.
We
are anxious to hear your suggestions and comments. We will need
your help in the years ahead. For more information or to receive
our newsletter, “Keeping in Circulation,” please contact
the Foundation.
Vascular
Disease Foundation
3333 So. Wadsworth Blvd., #B104-37
Lakewood, Colorado 80227
Phone:
303-949-8337
Toll Free: 1-866-PADINFO
Fax: 303-989-6522
General
Inquiries: info@vdf.org
Website:
www.vdf.org
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