Heart Failure

UK sources of information and / or support

 The leaflets section of Patient UK

Includes a leaflet called Heart Failure.

 Chronic heart failure

A patient guide to complement the SIGN national guideline for health professionals called Management of chronic heart failure.

 British Heart Foundation

A charitable organisation that aims to play a leading role in the fight against heart disease. Provides information on many types of heart conditions including heart failure.

 SHAPE - Study on Heart failure Awareness and Perception in Europe

SHAPE was established in 2002 by an independent group of medical specialists. SHAPE is the only European organisation exclusively dedicated to improving both the understanding of heart failure among the general public and the standard of care provided by health care professionals.

  DIPEx

DIPEx (Database of Individual Patient Experiences) is an Oxford based registered charity. It is a database of audio, video and transcript of interviews with patients experiencing a particular illness or health problem. Includes a module on heart failure.

 British Cardiac Patients Association

Offering support, reassurance and information to all cardiac patients. Representing patients in local and national issues relating to coronary heart disease.

 Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland

Provide an Adviceline service for people in Scotland. Their website also has various booklets, audio tapes, videos and factsheets - including a booklet on heart failure.

 Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke Association

Exists to prevent and alleviate chest, heart and stroke illnesses in Northern Ireland.

 Heart & Stroke Information Point

Provides reliable, up to date information for patients and carers affected by heart disease and/or stroke conditions. The project is funded by The Big Lottery and is being undertaken by NHS Tayside in conjunction with the University of Dundee. The website has been developed in partnership with patient, carer and healthcare professional groups across Tayside and they also work with national organisations including Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland. The website provides general information about heart disease and stroke conditions and also localised information about support groups in the Tayside area.

 Heart failure - cardiac resynchronisation

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Heart failure - cardiac resynchronisation.

 National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions

The National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions (NCC-CC) is a collaborative, multi-professional centre undertaking commissions to develop clinical guidelines for the NHS in England and Wales. The site provides an information service sourced from the Royal College of Physicians. Includes a section on Chronic Heart Failure.

 Medicine Guide for Heart Failure and Oedema

Medicine Guides provide reliable information about medicines (drugs), conditions and the different treatment options available. They have been developed in the UK as part of the Medicines Information Project.

Further sources / more detailed information

Some non-UK sites

The following list popular non-UK health information sites with content aimed at the general public. They are mainly from the US. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included but these large sites are comprehensive.

• Non-UK disease / illness sites
• Non-UK self-help / support group sites

More detailed medical information

The following list online sources of more detailed medical information, mainly from the UK. These sites are mainly aimed at health professionals, but are of interest to all. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included, but information about most medical topics can usually be found.

• PatientPlus - hundreds of medical reference articles provided by Patient UK.
• Evidence Based Medicine - such as from Clinical Evidence, The Cochrane Library, etc.
• Database of UK Clinical Guidelines - from NICE, SIGN, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, etc.
• Medline - abstracts available from thousands of journals.
• Sites listing free online medical textbooks and journals.
• Sites listing free medical images - pictures, atlases, anatomy, skin diseases, etc.