Join us for a discussion on how women often experience chest pain differently and why they may delay seeking care—whether due to self-assessment, challenges within the healthcare system, or feelings of embarrassment.

This Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance (CWHHA) ATLAS Chapter 9 webinar will summarize future directions and the actions needed to achieve sex- and gender- equity for women’s cardiovascular health to correct the glaring “unders” of cardiovascular disease for women in Canada: under-awareness, under-diagnosis, under-treatment, under-researched, and under-supported.

The diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in women presenting to the emergency department can be complex and challenging. Through the perspective of a person with lived experience with cardiovascular disease and a case study, this webinar will review the management, knowledge and treatment gaps, symptoms, unique risk factors and pathophysiology of women who present to the emergency department with chest discomfort.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) can affect women differently than men and the impact on women has traditionally been underappreciated. Healthcare teams can do more together to improve a woman’s heart health journey. The leading cause of preventable death in women in Canada is heart disease. Novel and multi-disciplinary approaches to increase awareness about the unique and emerging risk factors, signs and symptoms, and the types of heart disease in women are urgently needed.

What barriers exist in women’s cardiovascular health and how can we overcome them? Our expert panel of patients and healthcare providers will discuss some of the barriers, enablers and solutions around access, diagnosis, treatment and care for women’s cardiovascular health in Canada.

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to describe what heart disease is and how heart disease is different in women, including signs and symptoms, list the risks for heart disease in women, provide examples of how you can take heart health action as well as describe tips for talking with your health care provider about your heart health.

Learn more about women’s heart health! This was a live-streamed Q&A event to enable a conversation with experts in women’s heart & brain health. Held online and in person in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• See lesson plan and toolkit for high school teachers and students

• Additional questions to ask your provider

• Pathways medical care directory
• Telus health
• Commonwealth fund survey, 2019 (Canadian Institute for Health Information)
• Find a family doctor (BC College of Family Physicians)
• Find a doctor or nurse practitioner (Government of Ontario)
• Health care connect
• Divisions of family practice
• Urgent and primary care Centres (HealthLinkBC)
• Primary health care providers, 2017 (Stats Canada)
• Canadian Institute for Health Information stats

• Self-compassion.org for resources and self-compassion exercises
• Self-compassion vs self-esteem
• Kristen Neff Ted Talk on self-compassion 
• Overcoming objections to self-compassion