How To Live With Chronic Heart Failure

BRIDGEPORT — “Living with Chronic Heart Failure: The Keys to Success” is a new educational program being offered by St Vincent’s Medical Center to help individuals cope with chronic, congestive heart failure problems. The series of four classes is free and will be held on consecutive Tuesdays: July 18, 25, August 1, and 8, from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at the Medical Center.

Coordinator and Instructor Susan Law, geriatric clinical nurse specialist at St Vincent’s, said, “Through these classes, people with chronic heart failure problems can learn about medications and lifestyle changes that will help enhance their quality of life. They can begin a process of discovery about exercise and socialization, and learn they can do more than they thought.”

The classes will cover topics related to congestive heart failure including how to identify it, the latest medications, the doctor-patient relationship, and self-help skills.

Free parking is available in the visitor lot in front of the Medical Center or in the parking garage on Hunting Street adjacent to the Medical Center. For more information and registration, call St Vincent’s Case Management Department at 203/576-5608.

As part of its congestive heart failure services, St Vincent’s Medical Center also maintains a Congestive Heart Failure Clinic to treat individuals through outpatient therapy that considerably cuts down on hospitalizations and relieves their symptoms.

Through intravenous therapy, medications are infused to help rid the body of fluid and also help the heart to contract. The clinic also provides the patient with intensive education and a multidisciplinary approach to disease management.

For more information on the Congestive Heart Failure Clinic, call Linda Ruggiero, RN, at 203/576-6177.