Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay

Heart and Stroke Foundation is a non-profit organization that campaigns for the elimination of stroke, and heart disease. The organization plans the elimination of heart disease and stroke through the use of three strategies: advocacy; promotion of healthy lifestyles; and the development of research on heart disease and stroke. The organization has five values: respect, innovation, excellence, integrity, and collaboration (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Innovation enables the Heart and Stroke Foundation to encourage the development of new behaviors, ideas, and approaches of eradicating heart disease and stroke. Excellence enables the organization to pay attention to detail and deliver quality services to its stakeholders. Collaboration enables the not-for-profit organization to work together with their partners and other like-minded organizations that are involved in the fight against heart disease and stroke. Integrity enables the Heart and Stroke Foundation to manage its activities in a manner that is ethical and transparent.Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay.  Respect enables the organization to recognize and appreciate its employees, donors, partners, and volunteers.

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History

The origin of the Heart and Stroke Foundation can be traced back to 1950s when several Canadian volunteers, doctors, researchers, and physicians came together and founded the National Heart Foundation. They had three objectives when developing this organization: to raise the funds necessary for dissemination of information about heart disease; to empower researchers and reverse the adverse effects of heart disease; and to put back the issue of heart disease and stroke on the front banner (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). The establishment of the Ontario Heart Foundation and British Columbia Foundation in 1952 and 1955 led to the expansion of National Heart Foundation to Ontario and British Columbia (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). The founders of the National Heart Foundation expanded it further after the establishment of the Quebec Heart Foundation and the Saskatchewan Heart Foundation in 1956. By 1961, the National Heart Foundation had spread its tentacles to all Canadian states. Within the same year, the organization’s founders and the new members changed its name to the Canadian Heart Foundation. This change in name was as a result of the desire to give the organization a national appeal.

The Canadian Heart Foundation grew by leaps and bounds and in 1993, members of the organization’s board, with the concurrence of the partners, voted to change its name to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. This change in name was as a result of the realization that heart disease and stroke were no longer localized to Canada. The organization discovered that there were many regions around the world that were facing serious challenges related to heart disease and stroke. Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay. The organization’s board, therefore, expanded the objectives of the organization from focusing on containing heart disease and stroke at the national level to focus on containing the ailments at the national level, but with the collaboration of local and international partners. Today, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has 13 million donors, 130,000 volunteers, and more than 1,000 part-time and full-time employees.

Purpose and Function

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has four purposes or objectives: to protect vulnerable populations against environmental factors and human activities that might increase their susceptibility to heart disease; to fund research on the cure and management of heart disease and stroke; to disseminate information on the prevention of heart disease and stroke to different populations in Canada; and to encourage healthy living practices throughout Canada (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). In order to achieve the first purpose of championing the rights of vulnerable populations, the organization lobbies public health authorities to prioritize issues related to the prevention and management of heart disease and stroke. The Heart and Stroke Foundation also funds lawsuits on behalf of communities that have been unduly exposed to substances that enhance susceptibility to heart disease.

With regard to the second objective of funding research, the organization engages with donors at the local and international level with the aim of raising the funds necessary for the development of groundbreaking research on heart disease and stroke. The organization also facilitates the achievement of the funding through the creation of collaboration channels with organizations and individuals that are engaged in research on heart disease and stroke. The Heart and Stroke Foundation achieves the third purpose of dissemination through the development of several strategies aimed at delivery of information on heart disease and stroke to communities that have very little access to data on the ailments.Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay.  The Heart and Stroke Foundation achieves the fourth purpose through the development of services that encourage people to eat healthy foods. The organization has also teamed up with corporations that specialize in the development of healthy products (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012).

Framework and Funding

Framework

In order to achieve the stated functions and purposes, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has put in place a framework that has donors, local partners, and international partners at the top. In addition to the donors, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has 10 independent territorial and provincial foundations that act as the regional arms of the organization (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). These regional arms are the ones that combine to form the Heart and Stroke Foundation (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Apart from contributing to Heart and Stroke’s uppermost management structure, the independent foundations also enable the Heart and Stroke Foundation to obtain funds from donors at the regional level. In additional to the independent foundations, Heart and Stroke Foundations has more than 80 regional offices in Canada (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). These regional offices play the role of delivering Heart and Stroke’s services at the grassroots level. These offices conduct dissemination exercises and monitor the prevalence of heart disease and stroke. The regional offices also enable the Heart and Stroke Foundation to effectively monitor the success of dissemination and case management programs. Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay. The effectiveness of these regional offices is crucial to the long-term success of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Source: Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012

Notwithstanding the 10 foundations and 85 regional offices, the Heart and Stroke foundation has the positions of Board of Directors, Executive Director, and regional coordinators. The function of the office of the board of directors is to propose and monitor the development of Heart and Stroke’s organizational level strategies (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). They conduct their activities through periodic meetings and emergency meetings. The board is made up from members of corporate bodies and Heard and Stroke’s executive director. The main function of the executive director is to manage the day-to-day functions of the organization. The executive director manages these functions through close coordination with regional coordinators and the regional offices. The executive director also represents the organization in international meetings with donors and other partners that are closely supporting Heart and Stroke’s activities (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012).

Funding

Funding plays a crucial role in enabling the Heart and Stroke Foundations to achieve its short-term and long-term objectives. The philanthropic efforts of Heart and Stroke’s corporate partners have enabled it to raise millions for heart and stroke prevention and management initiatives (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). These corporate partners participate in the funding of Heart and Stroke’s activities in several ways: the purchase of automated external defibrillators; event sponsorship; funding the health professionals’ forum; funding of areas of investment missions (AIM); funding of research into heart disease and stroke; donation during consumer fundraising promotions; funding activities at the Center for Stroke; and donations in support of diversity initiatives that are aimed at providing heart disease and stroke protection to minority groups (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay.

Under the banner of event sponsorship, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has put in place two initiatives that are targeted at generating funds for the effective management of heart disease and stroke. These initiatives are the Becel Ride for Heart and Vino Della Vista (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). The Becel Ride for Heart is Canada’s biggest charity cycling event. On average, the event attracts 13,000 cyclists from Canada, Brazil, and the United States, with an annual target of raising $2 million (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). All the money raised from the cycling event goes directly to the funding of healthy living initiatives and research on heart disease and stroke. Vino Della Vita (the wine of life), the organization brings together Italian corporations and the Italian trade commission to taste wine for a good cause (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Over the years, the event has brought together more than 1,200 guests from Italy (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). With respect to the purchase of automated external defibrillators, the Heart and Stroke Foundation engages with several donors in order to ensure that there is a steady stream of automatic external defibrillators in community healthcare facilities specializing in the management of heart disease and stroke.

SSQ Financial Group is one of the leading supporters of Heart and Stroke Foundation’s initiative of providing Automated External Defibrillators to community healthcare centers. Boehringer Ingelheim Canada, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer are the biggest supporters Heart and Stroke’s collaborative forums that bring various healthcare professionals together to provide solutions on issues surrounding heart disease and stroke (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Federated Health Charities is also one of the strongest contributors to Heart and Stroke Foundation’s kitty. As one of Federated Health Charity’s priority charities, the Heart and Stroke Foundation benefits immensely through a constant supply of funds (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). The funding obtained from Federated Health goes directly to fund research on heart disease and stroke. Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay. Safani-Aventis has also joined hands with the Heart and Stroke foundation to develop several campaigns aimed at reducing the prevalence and incidence of childhood obesity (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Safani-Aventis’ donations have played a crucial role in enabling Heart and Stroke to develop robust strategies that target schools and other public venues that are normally frequented by children (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012).

Canola Council of Canada (Canola) has also been a strong supporter of Heart and Stroke Foundation’s childhood obesity campaigns (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Canola’s funding has been particularly helpful in enabling Heart and Stroke to develop the Spark Together for Healthy Kids campaign. This campaign has enabled the Heart and Stroke Foundation to create awareness on the link between obesity and heart disease. Heart and Stroke argues that many children die every year because of the consumption of food that increases susceptibility to heart disease (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Spark Together for Healthy Kids has, therefore, enabled Heart and Stroke to educate children in Ontario about the importance of healthy living. Other organizations that have been strong contributors to Heart and Stroke’s kitty are: Raleigh, Becel, IBM, Sears, BMO Employee Charitable Foundation, Bell, Merrill Lynch, Mindshare, OPG Employees’ & Pensioners’ Charitable Trust, Lenovo, Philips, Medtronic, Bank Financial Group, Astellas (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012).

Method of Service Deliver

Heart and Stroke Foundation uses several strategies to deliver its services to target communities. The organization uses its 85 regional offices to deliver services to vulnerable populations throughout Canada. The 85 regional offices are the lowest rung in the Heart and Stroke’s organizational structure and their role is to manage and monitor the organization’s campaigns at the grassroots level (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Services channeled through the 85 regional offices are mainly related to dissemination of information about heart disease and stroke. One example of a dissemination campaign is the Spark Together for Healthy Kids campaign in Ontario. The purpose of the Spark Together campaign is to highlight to young children about the relationship between obesity and heart disease. Parents often experience difficulty in informing their children about the dangers of obesity. The Heart and Stroke Foundation, therefore, uses the Spark Together campaign to provide children with practical examples about how to develop a healthy lifestyle. This campaign has managed to change the lifestyle choices of many children in Ontario.

Apart from the dissemination campaign, the Heart and Stroke Foundation also uses its 85 regional offices to deliver Automated External Defibrillators to community healthcare centers in Ontario that specialize in the delivery of care for patients suffering from heart disease (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012).Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay.  The provision of defibrillators has played a crucial role in reducing the cost of heart disease treatment at the community level. Many middle class and low income families face challenges in meeting the cost of caring for relatives with heart disease. The provision of defibrillators has, therefore, significantly reduces the amount of money that families with people suffering from heart disease would have spent on their relatives.

Legislation

The legislative framework for non-governmental organizations is at two levels: the federal government level and the local government level. At the federal level, the 2009 Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act is the main legislative framework on the issue of not-for-profit organizations. The statute sets out the structure of the nonprofit organization and their management. For instance, section 20 of the Act states that all not-for-profit organizations must have a registered office in a Canadian province and any change of address must be delivered to the registrar of corporations. The Act also states that the all duly registered not-for-profit organizations have the same legal rights as those accorded to a natural person.

At the local government level, there are several laws that nonprofit organizations must meet. For instance, the Ontario Corporations Act requires all non-profit organizations operating in the state to register irrespective of whether or not they have registered at the federal government level.

Effectiveness and Efficiency Review

There are several factors that point to the fact that the Heart and Stroke Foundation delivers its services in an effective and efficient manner. The Heart and Stroke Foundation screens all of the organizations it donates its money to. The organization provides funds to other organizations that are engaged in the development of solutions to heart disease and stroke (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). Heart and Stroke has put in place strict guidelines in order to ensure that funding is given to the right organizations (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). One criterion that the Heart and Stroke uses in the screening of potential research companies is the manner in which the research companies will distribute their products to patients after the discovery. As a general rule, the Heart and Stroke Foundation does not provide financial aid to research companies that are profit minded (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). The Heart and Stroke Foundation also examines the research companies’ values and reputation to ensure that they do not provide money to organizations that have a dubious record with regard to the delivery of groundbreaking research on heart disease and stroke (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012).

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The organization has also implemented transparency in the management of its resource and it keeps all electronic records of its financial dealings within Canada. The Canadian Revenue Agency requires all nonprofit organizations to store all electronic records of their transactions in Canada (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012). The agency states that books maintained outside Canada but accessible in Canada through the internet do not meet the requirements of the statute. Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay. For the books to meet the Canadian Revenue Agency requirements, they must be physically present in Canada. Apart from keeping financial records, the Heart and Stroke Foundation also delivers regular reports that outline the manner in which it utilizes donor funds (Heart & Stroke Foundation, 2012).

Future Needs and Directions

An analysis of Heart and Stroke’ donors indicate that most of its funds come from corporations that have parent companies outside Canada. The presence of international donors means that the Heart and Stroke Foundation will have to expand the scope of its activities beyond the Canadian borders. Most international nongovernmental organizations started out as national organizations and ventured into the international scene when they realized that many countries went through the problems they were attempting to tackle. Consequently, there is a very strong possibility that the Heart and Stroke Foundation will venture outside the Canadian borders in order to reach out to other communities and countries around the world that do not have the capacity to prevent or manage heart disease and stroke. Movement outside the Canadian borders will be advantageous to Heart and Stroke Foundation because it will provide it with additional resources that might not be available to localized organizations. Heart And Stroke Foundation Health Essay.