Atrial fibrillation is an age-related disease. Surveys show that nearly half of elderly atrial fibrillation patients have no obvious symptoms, leading to low levels of attention from patients and families, and low awareness of atrial fibrillation among the elderly; at the same time, more than half of elderly atrial fibrillation patients have insufficient awareness of the harm of atrial fibrillation and harbor fear of modern treatments, resulting in low treatment rates for elderly atrial fibrillation.
Elderly atrial fibrillation may lead to complications such as stroke, heart failure, cognitive dysfunction, and other disablement and cognitive impairment conditions, making it urgent to carry out popular science work related to atrial fibrillation.
Recently
In the 2024 Shanghai Health Popular Science Special Plan announcement, after multiple rounds of screening and on-site defense review, 45 “Health Popular Science Special Projects” stood out, among which the popular science project “Atrial Fibrillation – The Silent Killer of Elderly Abilities and Intelligence” at Zhabei Central Hospital in Jing’an District, Shanghai, received project support.
This popular science project, led by experts from the atrial fibrillation center, specializing in geriatrics, community healthcare staff, atrial fibrillation patients, and their families, jointly developed a set of elderly atrial fibrillation health popular science theme resource packs suitable for the physiological characteristics of the elderly, which are visual, auditory, readable, tangible, and traceable. Targeting the elderly population over 60 years old, through the Jing’an District Central Medical Consortium and its WeChat public account, online streaming platforms, galleries, newspapers, television, traditional media, and community health service centers’ health classrooms, regularly distribute atrial fibrillation series popular science knowledge, and organize and conduct offline lectures and clinics on atrial fibrillation prevention and treatment.
Simultaneously, taking this popular science project as an opportunity, a team for atrial fibrillation popular science including doctors, nurses, social celebrities, patients, and their families is being built, utilizing occasions such as China Atrial Fibrillation Day, Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month, World Heart Day, Shanghai Science and Technology Festival, etc., to promote and popularize basic knowledge of atrial fibrillation to the elderly through various channels.
The project leader stated
Through popular science propaganda that is easy to understand, teach, and learn, and vivid and illustrative, it is hoped to increase the awareness and treatment rates of elderly residents towards atrial fibrillation; reduce disablement and cognitive impairment caused by strokes, heart failure, and cognitive dysfunction due to atrial fibrillation among elderly residents, thereby highlighting the important value of atrial fibrillation health education.
Source: Jing’an, Shanghai
