AHA - Risky Benefits Podcast S5E15

In this episode of Risky Benefits, the focus is on heart health, community wellness, and leadership beyond boardrooms. The guest, Hailey Bruce, Development Director at the American Heart Association, shares her personal journey with congenital heart defects and her professional dedication to cardiovascular health. Hailey discusses the American Heart Association's efforts in research, community engagements like the Big Bend Heart Walk, and new initiatives targeting health in the construction industry. The episode also touches on the importance of mental health, stress management, and the wide-ranging impact of cardiovascular research.

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Transcript

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Hey, thank you for listening in to Risky Benefits, a podcast that informs you on all things benefits. We've got a saying around here, benefits isn't your main business. It's ours.

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hi everyone. Thank you for listening to Risky Benefits and welcome to this week's episode. Today's episode is close to our hearts. Literally, we are talking about heart health, community wellness, and how leadership isn't just in boardrooms, it's on sidewalks, fun runs, and all over our community. So our guest today is Hailey Bruce. Development director at the American Heart Association and the American Heart Association is a powerhouse advocate, community connector, and one of the driving forces behind improving cardiovascular health right here in our region. So Haley, thank you so much for coming in and coming on, and let's start by you telling us a little bit about yourself. Thanks for having me. So I am, I'm from Tallahassee, born and raised. I actually was born with congenital heart defects, and I've had two open heart surgeries myself. So again, also, no pun intended, close to my heart as well. It's really actually, pun intended, pun intended. Yes. But it, really what got me obviously involved in cardiovascular health and wellness. And I majored in cardiovascular technology, so clinically I have that experience, but new, I've been involved with a HA locally in Tallahassee since I was seven. And I'm, I turned 33 this week. So I've been around. Thanks. So I've been around most of my life at this point volunteering for the organization and like doing things on and off locally. So I always knew, even though I was in the hospital for a little bit on the clinical side, like I always knew that nonprofit was the end goal for me. So I started officially on staff back in 2015. Was on staff for five years. Left for a few years and did some pharmaceutical consulting and then started back at the end of March this year. So I'm excited to be back and advocating for heart health in Tallahassee. That's fantastic. Yeah. And what a great, like what a perfect fit for you. Yeah. Just given your background and everything. That's amazing that you've, I've been able to. Land in that role. It is, yeah. I definitely feel like it's where I'm, where I'm meant to be. Good, good. Yeah. So how do you, like, how do you explain the American Heart Association? I'm sure everybody just thinks, oh, they do that heart walk. Yeah. You know, everybody's heard of that, but what else would you say? What do you guys. It's what do you do? Yeah. okay, so that's a great question. First of all, one of the things that I really like to tell people is that we are the heart and Stroke association. I think from, from everybody's perspective, like we're just known as a HA, but we're a HA and a SA heart is still, despite all of our efforts, cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer of all Americans, but stroke is the fifth killer. So that is something that we. Really, stroke awareness month is in May. And so we do a lot of advocating around that as well. So that's my first little bit that I like to tell people. The other things that I would say, so June 10th was our hundred and first birthday, so we, it was our happy birthday today. Happy birthday, aj. So we've been around 101 years and. Since 1949, we've invested over$5 billion in research toward cardiovascular and stroke advancement. Wow. 12 million people have been reached with nutrition improvements in over 44 communities, and we train 22 million people a year in CP. And over 19 million patients are benefiting from quality care for high blood pressure. That's amazing. So it's really holistically across the globe. It's about research advancement really is our main target. That's great. Can you give us the. Some examples of the things that your research has been able to accomplish? Yeah. Yeah. So I would say even, taking it back to my personal story, yeah. Like I, again, I've had two open heart surgeries and there's a potential down the road that I will need a valve replacement, but because of. Research advancement. By the time I need a valve replacement, it can be done non-invasively in the cath lab. Wow. Which used to, you obviously would have to have your chest cracked for that. And there are still certain situations where open heart surgery is more beneficial, but that. Several. Years ago that would never even have been an option. Yeah. To do it non-invasively in the cath lab as almost an outpatient procedure. That's incredible. So, yeah. you think about heart surgery. Yep. And you would never think that it could be something so, yep. Non-invasive. That's amazing. And that, you know, it's hard, like I tell people I have other nonprofit friends locally obviously that, that do really great work for other nonprofits and we talk a lot about. Sometimes it's hard because ahas work isn't always tangible, like you can't always see it. Yeah. And so when you're trying to sell research to people, like, it's really hard to comprehend that sometimes and like really understand what that looks like. So yeah, it is things like, okay, this procedure used to be invasive and now it's not. And so putting that in layman's terms that people can understand it, it makes all the difference. Absolutely. That's, that sounds like you guys are obviously very successful and doing a lot of great work. Yeah. So thank you. Yeah. So obviously we all know heart health is typically focused around cardiovascular cholesterol, you know, all of that, but really it also has a lot to do with mental health, stress and social factors. Would you say that's accurate? Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah, without a doubt. Is there anything that you guys are doing that focuses around bringing awareness to those types of things? Yeah, it's something that we always talked about, but I really think our messaging changed a lot as did everybody else's during COVID and post COVID. Yeah. I think that mental health awareness is something during COVID that I think really even more so came to light because so many people were isolated at home and so a HA really started. Turning our messaging more towards mental health and stress and social factors that, that really do impact heart health. And I think that a lot of people don't realize how much stress can negatively impact your heart health. Especially really, I mean with anybody, but especially within the younger generation, because that's not something. I think everybody thinks heart disease has this face, it's like, it's like an old people disease. Mm-hmm. And that's just not the case. Like anybody can have stress case and point you Yes. Me case and point me. I mean, we hear stories all the time too of like younger healthy people that are runners that are like, that are athletes having heart attacks, having sudden cardiac arrest. And so really the messaging behind mental health, and stress factors like we we have so many resources on our website, it's heart.org, but you can look up resources for workplace stress, stress reduction, mental health awareness. We've got tons of different infographics that kind of talk about the importance of just clearing your mind and being able to learn how to manage stress appropriately because it does impact. Her health so much. Absolutely. And then for the employers who might be listening, obviously the resources that Hailey just mentioned are great, but also, just thinking about what you guys are doing with the non-invasive, all of that. Think about how much more time that brings the employees back into the, you know, into the workforce. Sure. Less absenteeism if they have to have a surgery. Mm-hmm. I mean, wow. Just. All across the board. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Great. So it's also, it's not just about, surviving, it's about thriving. So mentally, physically, and socially, and let's face it us benefit folks love to have solve complex problems. It's basically our cardio. So, anyway, what do community partnerships mean for a HA Yeah. And how can people get involved? Sure. We, the two events that we have in Tallahassee the one that everybody knows and loves is our annual Big Bend Heart Walk. And it is a, so we have a one mile survivor route, and then it's, a typical 5K so three miles. We don't call it a run. We've got people that love to come out and run it, but the goal of Heart Walk is that it's for everybody. Any phase of their journey. So whether you are very active or whether you're just starting out in your health journey. We also have a lot of survivors that come, new survivors that maybe they've just had a heart attack or maybe they've just had open heart surgery or somebody in their family and they're coming to support their journey. So we really like to make it a. An event for everybody no matter where you are in your health journey. And it is it's at Cascades every year. We just, we just had our event in June, but next year we're transitioning it to a March event. It will be in March from here on out. So there are always sponsorship opportunities for that. I know FBM, FBMC has chaired in the past and they've sponsored and so it really is like a just community wide event, tent table event. We provide activities and yeah, it's a fun time for everybody. Fantastic March guys. Beyond the Lookout March. And then the other event we are bringing to Tallahassee in October is something called Hard Hats with Heart and it's. We really learned, I think, over the last many years that we really need to meet people where they're at. And so historically we just did a heart walk and a gala here, and we've decided to really branch out into the community. And so we're bringing a new event called Heart Hats With Heart that specifically highlights the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in the construction and blue collar industries because I'm sure, as you all can imagine, the health of those individuals typically isn't. Isn't great. And so we're working to bring more awareness to really. Groups of people that, we feel like need more awareness and attention. So we're excited to, to dive into that area. That's great. Yeah. I bet that you know that group of employees and individuals probably is very prevalent and this industry, but they're probably not the ones who typically would think, oh, let me go to the American Heart Association, and, and so that's great that you guys are bringing for sure, focused awareness around that. Yeah. We've had a lot of groups. Asked me to come start speaking at their safety meetings to their employees, which is really great. And these guys too, like they're so busy that they, they're not the healthiest, but they also like. Really don't wanna go to the doctor. Mm-hmm. So, starting to talk to them, just again, meeting them where they're at, going to these safety meeting meetings, talking to them about things like heat stroke work, what it's like to work in the Florida heat in these summer temperatures. Let's hydrate with water instead of maybe a, a red bull. Mm-hmm. Let's talk about knowing your numbers and what your cholesterol looks like and like if you are feeling these symptoms. Let's take a little bit of time and go to the doctor. Yeah, absolutely. So it's really just getting people thinking about their health awareness. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. And what about out outside of community partnerships? Can individuals get involved anyway? Absolutely. So one of the things that I really like to talk to people about aside from sponsorship I would say the other two really big ways to get involved. So we have a workforce. Wellbeing program called Wellbeing works better that any company can sign up for. And we've got a website directly for that that I'm happy to provide information on. And you companies can sign up to learn. Things about like mental health in the workplace, tips for reducing stress and burnout. And there's all these different tiers that as the companies like achieve these activities and these goals, or maybe it's a program that you already have implemented that you just get points for because you already have it implemented. And these companies can work towards their top tier and then get nationally recognized. Okay. And it really is just about. Holistically making companies healthier and having these resources available. So that's a really great way and it's completely free. And then another thing is CPR and a ED trainings for any company. Like I can help facilitate that for any company that's interested. And our goal is to have as many people in Tallahassee trained and bystander CPR as possible. So those are two. I mean, obviously the CPR training isn't free, but it's it's a resource that I feel like everybody should know. Absolutely. And this is off topic a little bit. Yeah. But so CPR training, do you guys do stuff with. Children too, like people who wanna get babysitting certified and things like that. Yeah, absolutely. So I don't provide the trainings myself, but I have a list of a HA registered trainers that I set people up with. And it's, you can do infant and child CPR as well as adult CPR. Even for our clinical folks, they can even do advanced cardiac life support training. Like if it's, if it's something that is, revolves around cardiovascular training, CPR training, a ED training, like we have the resources to be able to, to set that up. Fantastic. Yeah. Very cool. Okay, this is a little bit fun, little lightning round okay. What is your go-to heart healthy snack? Ooh, okay. My favorite one lately is Trader Joe's has this Omega trail mix that I just started eating a few months ago that I keep it on hand all the time. Obsessed love a good trail mix. Omega, trader Joe's shout out. So what about most underrated form of exercise Walking. Walking. Mm-hmm. Yep. So we all have talked about there's a big trend right now with weighted vest. Yes. Thoughts. Feedback. I mean, I don't know that I would say that I've seen scientific research, but like honestly, I just threw one in my Amazon cart the other day. Like I definitely think it increase. It increases your cardio for sure. Yeah. Absolutely. okay. One thing people should do today for their heart. Move your body. Just get up and move. We're so sedentary. A lot of us at our desk now. Mm-hmm. Like, just get up and move. All right. Move, get up. Everybody. Get up and do a jumping job right now. Okay. And last one. We got CPR training, empowering or terrifying. Empowering. Absolutely. Thank you. And this is again off topic a little bit, but I was listening to your podcast. Shout out. Thanks. Do you wanna say what it is? so it's poured out. My best friend, Brandi and I started a podcast a year ago, and we're about to start season. Awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. Well, I was listening to an episode earlier and just talking about hydrating with water mm-hmm. Rather than Red Bull. Yeah. The episode I listened to was you guys started talking about seltzer waters. Yeah. And you have a LaCroix right now. Yeah. And you guys talked about spin drift a lot on the episode. Mm-hmm. Yep. I just wanted to say, and of one that you didn't mention mm-hmm. Is Topo Chico. Yes. Is a favorite around here, the tiny bubbles. Best carbonation. Love it. Gotta, anyway, I was super random, but No, listen, I, you're the pro made me think of it. I, Brady has said this on the podcast too, like, if you know me, that is, it's like my vice, like I have a sparkling water at all times. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely Love it. So is there anything else. That you wanna mention to our listeners? No, I think you did a great job covering everything. So thank you for asking such thoughtful questions. You have my contact information, so if anybody has questions or do you wanna give a shout out to your email or anything while we we're here? Yeah, so it's just Haley, H-A-L-E-Y, do Bruce, BRUC e@heart.org. So direct way to, to find me. All right, well thanks Haley, and let's keep heart beating stronger together. And for our listeners, if you wanna learn more about this kind of proactive care and your benefits strategy, be sure to check out our website@www.fbmc.com. And remember, you can find us and subscribe on any podcast app. Thank you. Thank you.