A new JACC Review Topic of the Week calls for a collaborative patient-centered framework to improve cardiovascular outcomes for Black women in the U.S., who are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease and face higher cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates compared to women of other races and ethnicities.

Modele O. Ogunniyi, MD, MPH, FACC, et al., on behalf of the ACC Cardiovascular Disease in Women Committee and the ACC Health Equity Taskforce, highlight select cardiovascular risk factors – traditional, female specific, and emerging – to exemplify the disparate impact on Black women in various cardiovascular diseases and stroke. They also point out that most medical research does not acknowledge and account for the heterogeneity of Black women in reporting cardiovascular disease outcomes, and emphasize the need for studies that consider ethnicity, acculturation, sexual orientation and gender identity.

The authors present a multipronged, multilevel approach that engages clinicians, health care systems, professional societies, and government agencies to improve the disparities in biomedical research, clinical trial participation, health care delivery, and cardiovascular outcomes in Black women.

They add that achieving cardiovascular health equity is one of the quintuple aims of the ACC, which defines health equity as “a human right that allows everyone to achieve the best attainable cardiovascular health and outcomes by overcoming all avoidable barriers.”

“In designing solutions to address the inequities in cardiovascular health, careful consideration should be given to the ethnic diversity of Black women, the impact of social determinants of health, and the unique challenges that shape their health-seeking behaviors,” they write. “Achieving health equity requires the collective effort of all stakeholders and a commitment to providing the best possible cardiovascular care for all as a fundamental human right.”

Keywords: Stroke, Human Rights, Patient-Centered Care, Government Agencies, Biomedical Research, Heart Disease Risk Factors, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Sexual Behavior, Risk Factors, Social Determinants of Health, Acculturation, Gender Identity, Health Equity

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