2020 Campaign Highlights

On Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day and throughout American Heart Month—campaign partners hosted more than 30 in-person and on-line educational events including:

• Flagship event with The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce in Harlem, New York that featured guest speakers including, Sue Peschin, MHS, President & CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research; Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Office of WebMD; Dr. Icilma Fergus, Director of Cardiovascular Disparities at Mount Sinai Medical Center; and physicians from local New York City hospitals. The event welcomed >200 attendees and received >1,400 views on Facebook Live.
• Educational symposium and dinner, VIP reception, and concert hosted by Rock from the Heart in Minneapolis for >1,200 guests.
• Facebook live event on heart valve repair and replacement, featured the co-directors of the valve center at Morristown Medical Center, a member of Atlantic Health System— received >33,000 views.
• Heart valve disease educational event hosted by Carondelet Health Network featured their structural heart team, free screenings, heart valve disease resources, and more.
• Heart health fair and support group hosted by Dignity Health that featured complimentary screenings and educational materials.
• Community event with an interactive patient panel for 195 attendees, hosted by Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.
• Event hosted by Emergency USA for older adults in New York City.
• Community event with a physician panel at the Heart Hospital at Baylor Plano.
• Facebook live video that promoted awareness of heart valve disease and was streamed by Inova Heart and Vascular—received >1,000 views.
• Sweetheart Screening event that featured heart experts at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute—attended by >153 people.
• Educational heart valve disease class hosted by MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center and Cardiologist, Sanjiv Patel, M.D..
• Educational and community awareness events hosted by Mended Hearts for >260 guests.
• Educational community event hosted by UMC New Orleans and Cardiologist, Dr. Pedro Cox.
• Heart health events hosted by WomenHeart hospitals in Arizona and Philadelphia.

This year’s campaign had exciting media exposure with letters to the editor placed in 41 outlets across 21 states. Larger state papers, like Florida’s Tampa Bay Times, Virginia’s Roanoke Times, and Texas’ Statesman, helped spread the word about Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day across the nation. The estimated combined circulation of these placements was more than 107 million readers.

A national press release was shared via PRNewswire and was picked up by 136 outlets with a total potential audience of 70,418,225. The press release was viewed 3,099 times and had 199 engagements.

Valve Disease Day was also mentioned in other media outlets, including mentions on Yahoo Finance, Patch.com, and Orange County Breeze, among others. The additional coverage totaled over 18 million in estimated reac

This year’s campaign had exciting media exposure with a high-profile op-ed in RealClear Health and 30 letters to the editor in newspapers around the country. The combined circulation of these placements was more than 2.5 million readers.

A press release about the day was picked-up by 173 outlets with a total potential audience of 10 million and 2,577 views.

The messages of the awareness day were shared through a morning Radio Media Tour that included 15 interviews with major news outlets and featured the Alliance’s Sue Peschin and Lindsay Clarke. Airings included NBC News Radio, as well as statewide networks in Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Airings including the #1 News Talk Information stations in Los Angeles and Milwaukee.

On Valve Disease Day and throughout American Heart Month, people and organizations across the country shared selfies, personal stories, educational resources, and more.

• A selfie challenge invited patients and advocates to take pictures wearing their Valve Disease Day sunglasses and share on social media to show their support.
• Facebook produced 757,841 impressions, 12,947 engagements, 616,500 video views, and 1,416 new fans.
• Twitter outreach had overall exposure of 5.4 million and >3,000 engagements and Twitter chat reached an estimated >55 million.
• Instagram produced 13,700 impressions, 635 engagements, and 59 new followers.
• A Blog Carnival shared blog posts from campaign partners sharing their stories of valve disease, why they joined the campaign, and more.

This year, the Valve Disease Day campaign ran a contest for Facebook followers and asked them to share their stories.

Carol G. was our winner and was featured on a digital billboard in Times Square the week leading up to February 22nd. The ad ran every minute for the week at the intersection of 42nd St. & 8th Ave.—home to Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, Madame Tussauds, Regal Cinemas, and the New Amsterdam Theater.

Carol G. also shared the news proudly and widely in her community and had local newspaper coverage of her story.

In 2020, there were 77 national and international partners committed to Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. These invaluable partner organizations are committed to raising awareness in their communities and through their outreach and include advocacy groups, aging organizations, professional societies, hospitals and heart centers, and more.