Support groups with heart

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Support groups with heart

You don’t have to go it alone — support groups offer information and more.

After his first heart attack and triple bypass surgery, Jack Walsh was exhausted, down in the dumps, and worried about his future. One day he read about a support group called Mended Hearts. Both parts of the group’s motto — “It’s great to be alive … and to help others” — struck a chord, and the Scranton, Pa., resident got involved. “That was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself,” says Walsh, a retired electrician who now directs the organization’s Northeast division.

Having a heart attack or stroke, undergoing heart surgery, or even learning that you have a heart rhythm disorder or other cardiovascular problem can shake your foundations as surely as an earthquake. Not only do these events pose problems with everyday life and finances, they can also raise the specter of mortality, generate grief over the loss of health, create problems with relationships, and lead to depression.

These aren’t the kinds of things most doctors and nurses were trained to help their patients with, and most don’t have the time to answer health questions and talk about more personal issues. What’s more, relatively few health care providers have first-hand knowledge of the aftershocks of heart disease.

A support group may offer what your health care team can’t — extra information, affirmation, emotional support, maybe even friendship. A heart disease support group offers the opportunity to talk with others whose lives have been affected by the same thing that is changing yours. Think of it as a kind of mutual aid society. You can get tips from seasoned veterans; share hopes, fears, and solutions with other newbies; and learn the latest about managing your condition.

A growing body of research places social support right up there with cholesterol control and exercise as offering protection to the fragile heart. So the personal connections and social interactions formed in a support group could be worth their weight in statins.

We keep using the words “could” and “may” because no one has yet measured whether, and how much, support groups help people recover from and live with heart disease. People who take part in such groups generally say they experience a benefit, but it is hard to determine if this is due to the group, the tincture of time, or their own efforts. The limited data collected so far indicate that support groups are probably most beneficial as part of a cardiac rehabilitation program or when they include a formal education component, according to Vicki Helgeson, professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, who has studied the impact of support groups. The impact of those offering mainly caring and sharing is up in the air.

Sharing the wealth

There are hundreds of support groups for people with heart disease. Mended Hearts, founded in 1951 at the Harvard-affiliated Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, is the oldest and largest. Now under the umbrella of the American Heart Association, it has 21,000 members in nearly 300 chapters across the country; its volunteers visit 250,000 people who have had heart surgery or angioplasty each year. Chapters usually offer monthly meetings for support and education.

Most support groups focus on specific conditions; for example, there are groups for people with atrial fibrillation, with implantable cardioverter/defibrillator devices, or with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. Some are national organizations; others are local groups sponsored by a hospital or HMO. Some have face-to-face meetings; many more exist only in cyberspace. Some are excellent resources. Others aren’t.

The best way to find out if a support group is right for you is to give it a try. Check out the leaders. See if the group really is supportive, or if it is mainly a gripe session for a tight-knit bunch. Ask yourself if you feel comfortable there. Do you come away feeling energized? Did you learn something about yourself or your condition?

One other thing to look for is whether the group welcomes spouses, partners, family members, or friends. They often have the same fears and uncertainties as their loved ones with heart disease, and can find the same kinds of support and education.

There isn’t a central clearinghouse you can call to find a support group in your area. We have listed below some of the national groups for adults. To find a local group, ask your cardiologist or a cardiac nurse, or call the hospitals in your area. If you have access to the Internet, a search for “support group” and “heart disease” and your city should turn up other possibilities.

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Last updated:	August 21, 2006