Working Life with Marese Damery, Irish Heart Foundation

Marese Damery, Health Check manager/Health Promotion, Irish Heart Foundation

6.30am

Maggie, our 13-year-old golden retriever, is my alarm. I let her out into the garden and feed her before readying myself for work. My three adult children fend for themselves. I head for the Luas for the 30-minute trip to our offices in Rathmines.

7.30am

I have some breakfast while going through emails. In managing the Health Check Service, planning ahead is essential. Our mobile health unit is an integral part of the service in reaching communities, as is our Farmers Have Hearts programme, where our nurses provide health checks and lifestyle advice for farmers at marts nationwide.

9am

Today the mobile unit is travelling to Kerry where two Kerry-based nurses will deliver the health checks. I pre-book the nurses for each health check day and work with two fantastic administrators, Emma and Orla, who organise and set up the logistics for each day, such as booking the the locations, organising the health check equipment and more.

10am

The administrators and I plan a Health Check day at a Mart in Co Cork. Farmers are seven times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than other occupation groups, so we are keen to raise awareness and reduce their risks.

The health check takes 30 minutes and includes blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose checks, weight measurement and overall individual assessment.

12.30pm

I have a bite to eat and catch up with what’s going on at home before taking a walk along the canal.

1.30pm

I have a conference call with researchers involved in Farmers Have Hearts. The research is looking at the best way to reach them. I am very passionate about supporting farmers to engage with their health.

3.30pm

I touch base with our driver to see how the mobile health unit is doing. We recently relaunched the unit — our new sponsor is Pfizer Bristol-Myers Squibb. We get a huge number of visitors to the unit — about 10,000 — and overall, about 18,000 people avail of our health check service each year.

7.30pm

Downtime involves spending time with my family, friends, my mother Anne, or helping my husband Mark on our allotment, or tennis or golf.