Cardiovascular diseases: kick-off of the ‘Online – on life’ pilot project for community prevention on the over 65s in Rome
Rome, 23 May 2024 — Heart disease is a major health threat, particularly among the over-65s, for whom prevention and early diagnosis are crucial. This is why, the Pro-Rectorate for Social Innovation Policies of the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the UniCamillus Third Mission—together with Società Italiana di Cardiologia Geriatrica (Italian Association of Geriatric Cardiology), Fondazione Longevitas and Associazione Salute e Società—are promoting a week of cardiology screening in the Casa Sociale delle Persone Anziane e del Quartiere ‘Romanina’ (Social House for Elderly People and the Romanina neighbourhood) in Rome.
The activities of the week include the administration of an anamnestic questionnaire aimed at learning more about patients’ medical history and identifying their social vulnerability index, which allows correlating health status with socio-economic variables. Patients will then undergo a cardiological examination, cardiac auscultation with a digital stethoscope, electro- and echocardiogram.
The project will also make it possible to estimate the prevalence and severity of very common heart diseases in the elderly population (atrial fibrillation, heart failure, valvular heart disease), for early identification of problems.
The event will start on 26 May with the over-65s attending the Casa Sociale delle Persone Anziane e del Quartiere ‘Romanina’ in Rome and will be extended in the following phases to other social aggregation facilities dedicated mainly to the over-65s.
The project also features students from the BSc Nursing at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
‘This is the application of the concept of “community prevention”’, says Alessandro Boccanelli, the project’s scientific coordinator, ‘a method of doing prevention that, through collaboration and close communication within a community, such as an elderly centre, a village, and a neighbourhood, can guarantee maximum adherence to screening. This model has already been applied to 10 geographically distributed villages in Italy and has provided important data on the presence of unknown cardiovascular diseases beyond the age of 65’.
‘Through this project, the University has the opportunity to address the social and health needs of vulnerable people. This is a university that interacts with the territory to develop and implement effective, efficient, sustainable and inclusive activities available to all’, says Rosaria Alvaro, Pro-Rector for Social Innovation Policies at Tor Vergata.
‘The health and cardiovascular well-being of the elderly may depend on the complex interweaving of clinical variables and socio-economic dimensions. This study aims to define these influences in order to arrive at an original definition of “socio-economic vulnerability” based on variables linked to the relational, affective and socio-cultural dimension of the elderly. It requires carrying out an assessment of the “relational assets” of the person to extend the economic concept of wealth to the social dimension, thus deepening the concept of “socio-economic” frailty’, states Donatella Padua, Associate Professor of Sociology at UniCamillus and Delegate to the same institution’s Third Mission.
‘Projects like this are essential for early detection of undiagnosed conditions, allowing us not only to save people’s lives and improve their quality, but also to cut the social and welfare costs associated with late diagnosis, hospitalisation and acute care. This is why it is desirable that institutions ensure effective preventive measures in the elderly population, through cardiology screening and more’, says Eleonora Selvi, President of Fondazione Longevitas.