Sister to Sister
Heart disease is the #1 killer of women, but it
doesn’t have to be. Founded in 1999 by women’s health advocate Mrs. Irene
Pollin, MSW, PhD (Hon), the Sister to Sister Foundation is dedicated to
preventing heart disease in women.
Sister
to Sister’s message is that a woman’s risk of heart disease can be lowered by
approximately 82% by leading a healthy lifestyle. Our message of health and wellness
empowerment inspire women to eat more healthfully, increase physical activity,
reduce stress levels, quit smoking, understand their family health history, and
be their own best health advocate when in conversations with their doctor.
But why does Sister to Sister focus on women?
These are some heart disease facts that every woman should know, as well as the
men who love them.
It is important to know that heart
disease affects women and men differently. Each year a significantly larger
number of women than men die from it. Women
are far less likely than men to be tested or treated in a timely manner. Women have more heart attacks that go
unrecognized, more repeat heart attacks, and greater risk of stroke after heart
attack.
Women don’t
know that heart attack symptoms may be different than in men. Women are more likely to feel shortness of breath,
fatigue, abdominal pressure, nausea or heartburn, or jaw, neck, back, or upper
shoulder pain.
Screenings to Save Lives:
Sister to Sister has developed a history of successful
community-based programs dedicated to health prevention through education and
behavior change. As a life-saving resource for women, Sister to Sister
has provided more than 80,000 free heart health screenings and counseling
interventions while educating more than 200,000 women at heart health fairs
across the country.
We mobilize women to get a heart disease screening and
inspire others to follow their lead. Sister to Sister has been helping
community leaders and female executives pass on our heart health message to
women they influence.
What makes a Sister to Sister screening so unique is the Five
Step Screening Intervention.
1.
Engaging
women to make a commitment to attend a screening and take steps to be
responsible for their own health.
2.
The
biometric screenings include Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose
(sugar), Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Circumference.
3.
Immediate,
personalized results to understand their personal risk factors.
4.
Individual
counseling sessions for women to review their screening
results, discuss what the numbers mean and receive recommendations
for lifestyle changes to reduce their heart disease risk. This is a true
medical intervention.
5.
All
collected data is added to the Pollin Cardiovascular Database for Women for tracking
and research.
In partnership with Brigham and Women’s
Hospital in Boston, the Pollin
Cardiovascular Database for Women is producing cutting-edge research that will
help to better understand the causes and development of heart disease in women,
while continuing to search for new and better treatments. The results are being published by the
American Heart Association, Journal of Women’s Health, Journal of the American
College of Cardiology, and the Health Journal.
Online Resources:
The website, www.sistertosister.org helps women prevent heart disease by providing
comprehensive messaging on each major heart disease risk factor, and healthy
living recommendations for positive behavior change. With daily tips, interactive tools, heart
healthy recipes, and online community, the Sister to Sister website impacts
thousands of women.
Smart for the Heart:
In early February, Sister to Sister and Brigham and
Women’s Hospital will be launching an interactive online wellness program (www.smartfortheheart.org)
which will offer a powerful health risk assessment to determine
one’s potential risk for heart disease.
It will provide online tools and workshops to help participants better
understand and improve their cardiovascular health. Participants will receive
personalized follow-up communications to keep them engaged in the program, lower
their cardiac risk and effect positive behavior change.
Capitol Hill Advocacy Days Program:
Since 2002, the Sister to Sister Foundation has been the
only heart-health nonprofit to take its mission of cardiovascular disease
prevention through screenings directly to Capitol Hill.
Sister to Sister’s Advocacy Days on Capitol Hill aims to raise awareness of the
prevalence of cardiovascular disease, its risk factors and prevention among key
policy makers and influencers.
We offer free cardiac screenings with immediate results
and counseling sessions, with a comprehensive heart-health action plan to
emphasize healthy lifestyle changes. A major component is education through our
health program, which offers cutting edge medical information, recommendations
for lasting behavior change, and the latest updates from Hill sponsors on
cardiovascular legislation.
In honor of Heart Health Month, Sister to Sister will host
a briefing in the House of Representatives on the Importance of Chronic Disease
Prevention and Controlling Risk Factors.
Top experts from the fields of hypertension, cholesterol, nutrition,
research and government will participate.
Sister to Sister’s program in the U.S. Senate will include
leadership from the Centers for Disease Control, the Pan American Health
Organization and George Washington University Hospital.
You can find Sister to Sister online through our website, www.sistertosister.org,
by joining the
conversation on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sistertosister,
following our tweets @sisterhearts and through our monthly e-newsletter. You can sign up at http://www.sistertosister.org/e-newsletters.
For more information please contact Lisa Townsend, Director, via email at ltowsend@sistertosister.org.
