Women's Heart Programs
How dedicated women's heart programs are helping fill identified gaps in cardiovascular care for women in Canada. 

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Women’s heart programs are now being recognized as important and crucial initiatives to address sex- and gender-based disparities in heart and vascular disease outcomes.1,2 

There is growing evidence of increasing heart and vascular disease morbidity and death among women results in the importance of these specialized programs.

These programs offer diverse and culturally appropriate expert care for heart and vascular diseases commonly seen in women throughout their lifespan, care for all genders, including transgender individuals, and support the establishment of longitudinal research databases. These programs also go beyond routine heart disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and education.1 

A Call for Healthcare Institutions Across Canada to Join Us!
Expanding women’s heart programs across Canada is crucial to address the existing disparities in cardiovascular disease outcomes among women. With only 6 in Canada, the CWHHA is recommending that all provinces and territories across Canada offer women’s heart programs to address sex- and gender-based disparities in heart and vascular disease outcomes.

Women's heart programs address heart conditions and risk factors that disproportionately impact women such as:

Pregnancy complications

Adverse pregnancy outcomes
(ex. premature birth, diabetes or hypertension during pregnancy, preeclampsia)

Pregnant woman icon

Peripartum cardiomyopathy
(weakened heart during or after pregnancy) 

Polycystic ovary syndrome icon

Polycystic ovary syndrome 
(problem with hormones that happens during the child-bearing years)

Menopause icon

Menopause and hormonal therapy2,3

Graphical abstract.4 

The Benefits: 

  • Women’s heart programs are equipped to accurately recognize the signs and symptoms of heart disease in women and offer a tailored approach to identifying and addressing cardiovascular risk factors in women. 
  • Women’s heart programs offer specialized testing not available at general cardiology clinics, including invasive coronary reactivity testing, optical coherence tomography (OCT), positron emission tomography (PET) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with tailored protocols for ischemia with no obstructive coronary artery disease (INOCA) and myocardial infarction with no obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA). 
  • The multidisciplinary nature of these women's heart programs allow healthcare professionals such as nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, and psychologists to provide support in management of risk factors and mental health support.
  • Women’s heart programs connect women with heart disease to cardiac rehabilitation centers and peer support networks that improve women’s heart health and quality of life.4

Women's Heart Program Directory

The Women's Heart Programs directory intends to connect women with available services to identify, diagnose and treat women with specific heart conditions.

  • Click on an icon to view the program's details.
  • Click the List of programs icon to view the list of programs.

  Peer Support Programs | Cardiac Rehab Programs | Women's Heart Clinics

References

  1. Parvand M, Cai L, Ghadiri S, et al. One-Year Prospective Follow-up of Women With INOCA and MINOCA at a Canadian  Women’s Heart Centre. Can J Cardiol. 2022;38(10):1600-1610. doi:10.1016/j.cjca.2022.07.005

  2. Gulati M, Hendry C, Parapid B, Mulvagh SL. Why We Need Specialised Centres for Women’s Hearts: Changing the Face of  Cardiovascular Care for Women. Eur Cardiol. 2021;16:e52. doi:10.15420/ecr.2021.49

  3. Mulvagh SL, Mullen K-A, Nerenberg KA, et al. The Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance Atlas on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis,  and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Women - Chapter 4: Sex- and Gender-Unique Disparities: CVD Across the Lifespan of a Woman. CJC open. 2022;4(2):115-132. doi:10.1016/j.cjco.2021.09.013

  4. M. Parvand, S. Ghadiri, E. Théberge, L. Comber, K.-A. Mullen, N.P. Bhalla, D. Johnsen, G. McKinley, T.L. Sedlak, Sex, Gender, and Women's Heart Health: How Women's Heart Programs Address the Knowledge Gap, CJC Open (2023), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.cjco.2023.10.012.