June 10th was Family Health and Fitness Day - a chance to celebrate the benefits of enjoying sports, outdoor activities, and exercise with your loved ones. Check out this month’s patient community newsletter to learn more!

The Foundation to Advance Vascular Cures is excited to mark Family Health and Fitness Day, and encourages our community to take the month of June as an opportunity to think about your family’s health. Whether it’s teaching young children the importance of eating well and exercising, or finding ways to spend quality time with your family as schedules get busier - the family that moves together enjoys better health together! 

Physical fitness is important for vascular health at any age. But often, it can be hard to stick to an exercise regimen - especially for solo activities like walking or jogging. To make these activities more fun, and to hold yourself accountable to getting your exercise in, try incorporating some family fun. Take walks together, or try a sport like frisbee. There are so many ways to enjoy family health and fitness!

One of our Patient Partners, Pam, is a busy elementary school physical education (PE) teacher living with the challenges of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). For many years she didn’t know that PAD was causing her leg pain. When she was diagnosed and began researching the condition, she experienced how powerful it was to understand her disease better. As a result, Pam is passionate about raising PAD awareness. 

“[Getting involved with Patients are Partners] has helped me learn a lot and has given me confidence to teach others what I’ve learned.” As an educator, Pam takes her passion for PAD awareness into her classroom. She teaches her PE students about PAD and broader vascular health. In turn, her students pass on what they have learned to their parents and grandparents. Pam takes comfort in knowing that she is laying the groundwork for her students to live healthier lives free of preventable vascular disease. She is a vocal advocate for family health and fitness - thank you Pam!

June is also Pride month, and our dedication to promoting better vascular health for all includes raising awareness of vascular health risks and conditions that may disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ individuals. Our team member Katelyn has written a blog post about this very topic - check it out here: https://vascularcures.org/news/vascular-health-for-the-lgbtq-community. 

Vascular Cures’ Patients are Partners program is looking for patients or caregivers with lived experience of vascular disease, including experiences with multiple conditions, like vascular disease and Type II Diabetes. 

We partner with you according to your schedule, and opportunities are paid and remote. Join us in improving vascular care and research for all! For more information, visit https://www.vascularcures.org/our-programs/patients-are-partners.