Mended Hearts, Inc.

The Mended Hearts, Inc. is a non-profit organization that is affiliated with the American Heart Association. Both organizations are dedicated to supporting one another’s goals and objectives and are committed to offering help, support, encouragement, and information to individuals affected by heart disease, their families, and other caregivers. Established in 1955, Mended Hearts serves, as an extended support group comprised of affected individuals, spouses, other family members and caregivers, health care professionals, and other interested persons. The organization’s primary focus is helping individuals cope with emotional recovery from heart disease. Mended Hearts currently includes local chapters in approximately 260 cities across the United States and in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The organization works to fulfill its mission and objectives by distributing educational information; cooperating with other organizations in educational and research activities; establishing and assisting heart disease rehabilitation programs for members and their families and caregivers; and establishing and maintaining a program of assistance for physicians, nurses, medical professionals, and health care organizations who work with heart disease patients, their families, and other caregivers. Mended Hearts is also committed to offering local programs in which members visit, with physician approval, and offer encouragement and support to heart disease patients and their families or other caregivers. Accredited visitors meet affected individuals and families in hospitals and homes as well as via the telephone or the Internet. Mended Hearts also conducts an annual national convention to educate and train members and chapter officers; offers regional workshops to train members and officers and to provide medical updates; publishes a regular journal entitled “HEARTBEAT”; and maintains a web site.