Sabrina Cuddy • November 20, 2024
The HCMA theme for December is Gratitude

Why practice gratitude?

Gratitude has benefits for both mental and physical health as well as our relationships with those around us. When we’re thankful for anything positive in our lives, it leads to a shift in mindset that helps us feel better and take action to stay as healthy as possible. What can you think of that’s been good for you this month? What about this year? Who are the people in your life you appreciate? What in your life makes you feel grateful?

Being grateful can help us manage stress. If we have recently felt grateful, it can even help keep blood pressure from rising in response to stress. 

Gratitude can help improve mood and stave off depression. Robert Emmons is a researcher who has studied gratitude and well-being. His research shows that happy people are more likely to take steps to stay healthy, such as exercising, eating right, and seeing their doctor or dentist regularly. People who write a few things they’re grateful for in a journal every evening sleep better, and we all know how much better we feel when we have a good night’s rest!

At the HCMA, we talk a lot about resilience. Gratitude helps you be more resilient when something bad happens to you and can give you some insulation against all the things happening in the world. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong, someone who practices gratitude can see what’s going right.

A study in Massachusetts of those with acute coronary syndrome found that patients had more improvement in health-related quality of life as well as less depression and anxiety when they showed gratitude and optimism during recovery. Now, this isn’t HCM, which we know is a chronic condition, but it also applies to us. ( Millstein, Celano, Beale, et al., 2016 )

People who practice gratitude regularly are more likely to be socially thoughtful and empathetic. They are more sensitive towards other people. They also feel less competitive and often have higher self-esteem. It’s one of the easiest ways to improve your satisfaction with your life. Remember, if you’re happy, you’re more fun to be around, which can benefit your social and professional life.

Ways to practice gratitude

★Try keeping a journal of times you feel grateful each day. 

★If someone gives you a gift this holiday season, be sure to express your thanks to them because this can strengthen your relationship, make them feel good, and make you feel good! If you didn’t want that ugly sweater, that’s ok – regift it next year (or donate it next week), but allowing yourself to feel grateful that someone cared to give you a gift is the most important thing because of the mental and emotional boost it provides. 

★Thank someone who served you in some way. Genuinely thanking them can make up for past customers who were rude and put a smile on both your faces.

HCMA Blog

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By Sabrina Cuddy • August 1, 2025
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Call to ACTION! Urge Congress to Invest in Medicaid and Medicare! No Cuts to these crucial programs!

By Julie Russo • July 31, 2025
Sixty years ago, Medicaid and Medicare were established when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments into law. The programs were a larger part of Johnson's "War on Poverty" agenda to combat inequality. Sixty years later, Medicaid and Medicare are under attack in ways that we could never have imagined. With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), $1 trillion was cut from Medicaid and Medicare―the largest health care cut in U.S. history. As a result of the budget package, more than 15 million people will lose health insurance, hundreds of rural hospitals will close, and approximately 51,000 people will die preventable deaths each year. Congress voted for this harm, and Congress can fix it. We need them to invest in Medicaid and Medicare in order to undo this damage. Click here to send a message to Congress telling them to invest in these critical programs, not cut them. OBBBA is the exact opposite of the "War on Poverty." The bill was passed with brutal cuts to health care to fund more tax handouts for the very wealthy. It took from the poor to give to the rich. The unpopularity of these cuts cannot be overstated. Eighty-three percent of the American public, including three in four Republicans, has a favorable view of Medicaid. Congress must hear from us loud and clear: reverse course, undo the harm to Medicaid and Medicare, and protect health care for more than 71 million people. Join us in sending the message to Congress to invest in these critical programs, don't cut them. 1 The Truth About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Cuts to Medicaid and Medicare 2 Research Memo: Projected Mortality Impacts of the Budget Reconciliation Bill 3 Medicaid keeps getting more popular as Republicans aim to cut it by $800 billion

Lisa's Letter - July Newsletter

By Lisa Salberg • July 3, 2025
Summer, greetings to all our big-hearted friends As July approaches, our focus is already on the fall and preparing for some major events, including our annual meeting coming up in October. July will also find us on the west coast in Seattle conducting a regional patient education meeting as part of our big-hearted warrior tour. We have been following the generic drug quality issue in the United States very closely and encourage you to watch the series starting with our Hill briefing in April and following with the additional webinars with our partners at Medshadow and the People's Pharmacy, and of course the ProPublica series of articles. See them all here . We are happy to have a new team member on board - we welcome Pam as our coordinator of both our All Hearts Collaborative and Hearts and Minds project. Over the next few months, you're going to be learning more about these two amazing initiatives and how we are working to provide better services for big hearts regardless of where you live, so we are meeting all of our big-hearted friends where they are. Please stay tuned for updates from these projects coming soon. We are also creating new volunteer opportunities and engagements that we hope will make it easier for you to participate in spreading the message of the importance of diagnosis, the importance of community readiness related to CPR and AED use and, of course, helping patients get to their ultimate diagnosis and getting them on the proper treatment pathways. This July I would like to recognize all of the special birthdays in my family, including HCMA Center of Excellence coordinator, Stacey Titus-brown and my daughter Rebecca Salberg. It's a milestone birthday for Becca - it’s hard to believe I have a 30-year-old child. Wishing you all a happy and healthy summer. Go build some memories!
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