The first step in ensuring patients are at the center of our care is listening to them. In-depth conversations were at the heart of two recent patient forums hosted by the ACC at Heart House.

The Patient Forum, At a Crossroads: Surviving Cancer, Taking Care of Your Heart, held on Sept. 26, welcomed a group of 19 cancer patients and survivors, as well as four clinicians, to garner patients' perspectives on when and how they learned about the potential cardiovascular side effects of cancer treatment and how the ACC can help fill gaps in awareness.

The following day, the ACC welcomed more than 40 attendees to the Cardio-Oncology: Risk Assessment & Management Strategies Roundtable, including cardiologists, oncologists, patients, nurses, NIH representatives, and others. Discussion focused on best practices in identifying and treating cardio-toxicity in patients and survivors who developed heart disease prior to cancer treatment, and in those whose treatment put them at risk of, or led to, heart problems.

On Oct. 30, the focus turned to diabetes and heart disease, with a group of eight patients and four clinicians. The Living Well With Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease patient forum looked at gaining their perspectives on living with diabetes and learning about, accepting and managing the parallel risk for cardiovascular disease. Throughout the day participants shared their stories and the challenges they face in managing two chronic disease at the same time.

ACC leverages the outcomes of all its patient forums to help inform programming and identify strategies to improve cardiovascular disease management and risk reduction in these patient populations.