American Heart Association Strategic Planning and Stakeholder Roles

Organization Overview and Mission

The American Heart Association (AHA) is the oldest and most robust organization in the United States focused on fighting stroke and heart disease. It was founded in 1924 by six cardiologists and now counts over 22.5 million supporters and volunteers ("About Us," 2020). The organization funds research, lobbies for improved public health policies, and provides the public with information needed to save lives. Shared interest in cardiovascular health brings together over 33 million volunteers and more than 3,400 staff members ("About Us," 2020).

In 1975, the AHA relocated its headquarters from New York to Dallas, Texas, seeking a more central location for ease of reach and coordination. The American Stroke Association, an offshoot of the AHA, was created in 1997 to harmonize the organization's stroke-related activities. Together, these bodies offer the public information relating to health status, lead CPR training initiatives, and provide guidance on healthy lifestyles. Healthcare professionals also benefit from information the organization disseminates in support of better patient care. The AHA educates other professionals on the importance of a concerted community effort for healthier localities.

Mission: To be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.

Stakeholders and Their Roles

The stakeholders of the American Heart Association include donors, volunteers, and researchers, each playing a distinct and critical role in advancing the organization's mission.

Researchers are indispensable to the AHA. They serve as the source of new knowledge relating to cardiovascular health. The AHA's research program is guided by twelve tenets crafted by a board constituted of key organizational stakeholders. Researchers are charged with the responsibility of sharing their findings for the improvement of AHA services and societal well-being.

The AHA depends significantly on donors. Donors extend their assistance in strengthening the organization's ability to manage its funds effectively. Allowing donors to have a degree of control over resources gives them both power and investment in the mission, enabling them to influence organizational decisions in meaningful ways.

Volunteers contribute their talent and time to promote a world free from stroke and heart disease. Volunteer teams ensure that the AHA's work remains focused on meeting community needs and that the organization remains visible enough to attract ongoing support from government and the general public. Volunteers are also central to effective fundraising efforts.

Short-, Mid-, and Long-Term Organizational Goals

Short-term goals (1–4 years):

To promote the cardiovascular health of all American citizens by 20% and reduce deaths caused by cardiovascular disease by 20%. To encourage partners and communities to embrace a well-being mindset and pursue health equity as a central goal.

Mid-term goals (5–14 years):

To increase healthy life expectancy equitably beyond current projections — from 66 to at least 68 years for Americans, and from 64 to at least 67 years globally ("About Us," 2020).

Long-term goals (15–20 years):

To engage and encourage partners to promote equity and well-being inclusion in all policies, support planning and investment across the life course, and focus on upstream indicators of health. These determinants include toxic stress reduction interventions for children, and pursuing sustainability strategies through cash flows directed to densely populated communities living in poverty. Additional long-term goals include:

Volunteer Stakeholder Perspective and Personal Motivation

Available data reveal that currently one in three adults lives with at least one type of cardiovascular complication (Mozaffarian et al., 2016). Beyond being the first and sixth leading causes of death, heart disease and stroke lead to poor quality of life, disability, and billions of dollars in economic costs each year. The disease burden for cardiovascular conditions is distributed disproportionately across the population, with notable disparities based on race, gender, geographic location, and economic status (Barr, 2016; Havranek et al., 2015; Lopez-Jimenez, 2012). These disparities are evident in:

My family has been affected by cardiovascular disease, which makes the AHA's work personally significant to me. I believe that the best way to combat cardiovascular disease is through prevention, achievable through a well-being lifestyle approach. As a result, I have volunteered my services to AHA to bolster their efforts, with a specific focus on sensitizing communities to the predisposing factors that expose people to cardiovascular disease and how those factors can be reduced or eliminated. The AHA supports medical research on cardiovascular disease, creates awareness about the disease, and directs its energies toward care and saving lives — all goals I am committed to advancing.

References

"About Us." (2020). The American Heart Association. Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/about-us

Angell, S. Y., McConnell, M. V., Anderson, C. A., Bibbins-Domingo, K., Boyle, D. S., Capewell, S., ... & Huffman, M. D. (2020). The American Heart Association 2030 impact goal: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 141(9), e120–e138.

Barr, D. A. (2016). Geography as disparity: The shifting burden of heart disease.

Havranek, E. P., Mujahid, M. S., Barr, D. A., Blair, I. V., Cohen, M. S., Cruz-Flores, S., ... & Rosal, M. (2015). Social determinants of risk and outcomes for cardiovascular disease: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 132(9), 873–898.

Lawrence, A. T., & Weber, J. (2014). Business and society: Stakeholders, ethics, public policy. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

Lopez-Jimenez, F. (2012, October). The pursuit of ideal cardiovascular health: An individual and societal challenge. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 87, No. 10, pp. 929–931). Elsevier.

Mozaffarian, D., Benjamin, E. J., Go, A. S., Arnett, D. K., Blaha, M. J., Cushman, M., ... & Howard, V. J. (2016). Heart disease and stroke statistics — 2016 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 133(4), 447–454.

Rehnborg, S. J., & Moore, M. (2012). Maximizing volunteer engagement. In The volunteer management handbook: Leadership strategies for success (2nd ed., pp. 103–124). John Wiley and Sons.

Scheier, I. (1975, Winter). Need-overlap analysis in helping (NOAH) for organized volunteer programs. In Synergist. Washington, D.C.: ACTION.