Saving Lives One Heart Screen at a Time: Sister to Sister: The Women’s Heart Health Foundation
It seems that no matter where you turn, we are constantly being urged to get screened – screened for breast cancer, screened for blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol and, of course, your heart risk. You name it and there’s a screening for it. There’s no doubt that prevention is important but short of a visit to your doctor, where can you find screening? More importantly, in today’s tough economic times, where can you find affordable screening?
Enter Sister to Sister, The Women’s Heart Health Foundation (http://www.sistertosister.org/). Sister to Sister is a foundation which was first started in 2000 by Irene Pollin, a women’s health advocate. The Sister to Sister foundation has a three-fold mission:
•To increase awareness among women that heart disease is our number-one killer.
•To offer women free cardiac screenings for early detection and treatment.
•To educate women that healthy lifestyle changes can reduce heart disease risk dramatically.
According to their website, the Sister to Sister foundation is currently the leader in providing free screenings to women for heart disease. Sister to Sister is responsible for screening more than 80,000 women in the United States. Sister to Sister also hosts annual heart health screening fairs which provide women with free heart screenings, along with educational materials and post-fair counseling. Fairs have been held in more than 20 cities and upcoming events are easily located on the “events” tab on the home page of their website.
In addition to heart screening fairs, Sister to Sister also sponsored numerous other programs, including a Cardiologist Development Program, training for women in leadership to help promote and foster heart education, research, and of course, numerous tools, risk assessments, recipes, guidelines on healthy living and a strong online community forum.
While anyone can use the resources on the website, Sister to Sister does have a “Save a Heart” membership donation program with a $50 and $100 donation levels.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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