A Legacy of Heartfelt Innovation

17 April 2025

- 3 mins read

by KEVIN YIEW and LIM KIAT

As the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) celebrates 55 years of pioneering heart health advocacy, its evolution from providing grassroots education to technology-driven outreach highlights its commitment to empowering Singaporeans at every stage of life. From school-based programmes to digital innovations, SHF has played a pivotal role in shaping cardiovascular care in Singapore.

Early Beginnings: Laying the Foundation

SHF’s outreach journey began in schools, recognising that heart health education must start when students are young. The BP Initiative @ Schools, launched in 2010, targeted Primary 5 and 6 students who were taught about blood pressure (BP) monitoring and sodium reduction. Encouraged by its early success, SHF expanded the initiative to include secondary schools and Institutes of Higher Learning, such as the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and polytechnics, fostering a new generation of heart health ambassadors.

2000s – Jump Rope for Hearts
A dynamic programme combining skipping routines with heart health education, it soon evolved into Hip Hop for Hearts to stay relevant with youth trends.

2018 – Xin Xin Robot
A social robot, introduced to primary schools, gamifies lessons on blood pressure and nutrition. Students “consulted” Xin Xin to select healthier products and decode sodium content, blending education and play.

Technological Leap: Pandemic Driven Innovation

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated SHF’s digital transformation, pushing it to reimagine outreach through:

2023 – BP Awareness Kiosk and 2018 – CPR Self-Learning Kiosk
Self-service stations at community hubs where Singaporeans can measure their blood pressure or practise CPR using gamified tutorials with prompts in Singlish, such as “Faster, steady lah!”

2021 – Captain Hugo Online Gameplay
An award-winning World Heart Day initiative featuring an interactive game board and mini-game, educating close to 1,000 players on heart disease prevention.

Hybrid Learning Modules
Institutions such as Nanyang Polytechnic integrated SHF’s e-learning materials into their curriculum, seamlessly embedding heart health education into academic programmes.

Age-Specific Strategies: From Preschoolers to Adults

Drives initiatives for different age groups:

Children (5–12 years):
The “Do the Hugo Pump” dance, featuring mascot Hugo, turned heart-healthy exercise into a viral school assembly routine, reinforcing active lifestyles and good habits.

Adults:
Community workshops included Salt Taste Threshold Tests that revealed individual sodium sensitivity, aiming to encourage healthier dietary changes.