2022-23 Annual Report

A word from our leadership

Improving Care for All

The American Heart Association believes everyone deserves the opportunity for a longer, healthier life. We also believe everyone can save lives through CPR.

In January 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest horrified viewers around the world. It also awakened a nation of lifesavers, as people everywhere began to wonder if they should learn CPR. Hamlin’s remarkable recovery and devotion to helping others answered that question with a resounding yes — and demand for the AHA's decades-long expertise in this area exploded.

We’re expanding awareness of CPR and training health care professionals to react more quickly and effectively in cardiac emergencies. Here’s how:

The Nation of Lifesavers campaign launched in June 2023. Hamlin, working with the NFL, is helping us spread the word that CPR is quick and easy and can save a life.

Resuscitation Quality Improvement Program (RQI) subscriptions grew to nearly 1.7 million, with nearly 25,000 of that added internationally, training more health care professionals in CPR inside hospitals.

RQI for Prehospital Teams, a cloud-based platform, was launched to provide health care professionals master-level lifesaving skills from experts and faculty at Seattle-King County Medic One in King County – which has one of the best heart attack survival rates in the country.

Rural Health

Science-based support for 61 million people in the U.S.

People who live in rural America are disproportionately more likely to develop heart disease, have strokes or have high blood pressure. This happens for a number of reasons, including a lack of health care options. The American Heart Association is working with people in those communities to erase these disparities.

Fulfilling Our Commitments

Food and Health

Unleash a Powerful Tool: Nutritious Eating

Food Is Medicine

Our Food Is Medicine Initiative works to ensure people get the healthy foods they need to help prevent and manage chronic disease. It also supports research to discover the best food-based treatment options for chronic disease.

Periodic Table of Food

The Periodic Table of Food pursues data-driven solutions to diet-related diseases and to improving the global food supply. We are working with The Rockefeller Foundation, and with inaugural partner Kroger, to help millions benefit from a more holistic approach to diet and health.

The American Heart Association champions public policies on the national, state and local level that foster more equitable health care for all.

Advocacy Wins

Lifesaving Policies Succeed at Every Level

One important way we stand with our communities is by advocating for laws and policies that help people access care, avoid tobacco and eat healthier. In addition to our accomplishments on the national level, we achieved 189 state and local “wins.” Some of the significant victories at the national, state and local levels include: