Heartbeat To Heartbeat
Women and Heart Disease
with Lucy Lawless

About The Documentary

Heart disease is the number-one killer of women in the United States. This documentary is an urgent wake-up call that encourages viewers to take action towards improving their cardiovascular health.

The program provides useful information on risk factors, symptoms and prevention, explores the emotional impact of the disease, and reveals just how important it is for women to ask questions of their physicians and to reach out for support when they need it. Featured are interviews with women living with heart disease—including Kathy Kastan, president of WomenHeart: the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease—and with actor Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess), who encourages women to take charge of their well-being.

Sharing the latest information on women and heart disease are Dr. Susan Bennett, Clinical Director, Women’s Heart Program, The George Washington University Hospital, and Dr. Barbara Alving, Acting Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The program is hosted by Emmy Award-winning executive producer Helene Lerner.

Program Length: 26:46

NTSC letterbox version: Sunday, January 30, 2005,1400-1430ET /511 (APT feed information for digital widescreen version to be announced.)

Public Television Premiere: February 1, 2005

A Production of: Creative Expansions, Inc.

Presenting Station: KCTS/Seattle Public Television

Distributor: American Public Television (APT)

Credits:

Executive Producer/Host: Helene Lerner.
Producers: Mona Kanin and Carey Graeber.
Editor: Satoko Sugiyama.
Director of Photography: Lloyd Handwerker.
Underwriters: Major funding provided by Medtronic and by Omron Healthcare.

Program Tie-ins: February is American Heart Month, and February 4 is National Wear Red Day for Women (a time when people nationwide take women’s health to heart by wearing red).

web sites: Informational sites on women and heart disease:

www.womenheart.org
www.hearttruth.gov
www.americanheart.org
 

About the Host

Helene Lerner, renowned health and empowerment advocate, has hosted a number of compelling television specials covering a wide range of topics, from life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and AIDS, to the challenges facing professional women today. The Emmy Award-winning executive producer’s work has appeared on public television as well as CNBC.

 

On television, in print and through keynote addresses to corporate and community groups, her message is clear—with awareness, commitment and support, we can move our lives forward despite the obstacles that may arise.
Lerner began her career as a teacher in the New York City public school system. In the 1980s, she pursued a career in sales and marketing and worked her way up through the ranks of The New York Times.
 

A former columnist for New Woman magazine and for the New York Post’s “Wellness Watch,” Lerner also has authored several books, including Embrace Change, Finding Balance, Stress Breakers and Our Power As Women:
Wisdom and Strategies of Highly Successful Women. Lerner hosts a popular Web site for women, womenworking2000.com, with success strategies for
advancement, balance and leadership, power-networking contacts, books and more. She maintains a private practice coaching individuals and groups on tools and techniques to increase power and self-esteem in both their personal and professional lives. She lectures on topics of self-mastery and power, balancing
career and family, creating mentoring and networking partnerships, stress reduction and other health issues.

Lerner heads a successful company, Creative Expansions, Inc. (CEI), designed to help women actualize their potential. CEI’s previous productions include Proud to be a Girl, winner of a 2004 New York Emmy Award; Blazes of Light: Women Living with HIV/AIDS, an Emmy nominee and winner of a 2000 Gracie Award from
American Women in Radio and Television; Out of the Darkness: Women and Depression, winner of a 1999 New York Emmy Award and a 1999 Gracie Award; and Osteoporosis: Your Bones, Your Life, winner of a 1997 National Media Owl Award from the Retirement Research Foundation. Other productions include Grab Hold of the Reins: Women & Cancer, Women Going Global, Rocking the Barriers, Women Working 2000 and Beyond, Choices Over a Lifetime, Phenomenal Voyage: Women Engineering the Future, Pure Magic: The Mother-Daughter Bond and The Power of Integrity.
 

A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Lerner holds a master’s degree in education and an MBA in management sciences. She lives in New York City. American Public Television, Program Distributor For 42 years, American Public Television (APT) has been a prime source of programming for the nation’s public television stations. APT is known for identifying innovative programs and developing creative distribution
techniques for producers. In more than four decades, it has established a tradition of providing public television stations nationwide with program choices that enable them to strengthen and customize their schedules.

 

 

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