Sister to Sister Everyone Has a Heart Foundation

Online Wellness Program: During 2014, Sister to Sister revamped its online wellness program, Smart for the Heart, to become a user-friendly, motivational, and mobile-enabled cardiovascular disease prevention program. The tool was launched in both English and Spanish. It includes a scientifically-based cardiac assessment and a personalized guide to a heart healthy lifestyle. The revamping included a robust social networking component to create an ongoing support community for users and a built-in platform for increased awareness. Participants who complete the assessment receive immediate, personalized recommendations for lifestyle changes based on their responses. The data gathered from the assessment is HIPPA compliant and can be used for research by Sister to Sister's hospital partners and the cardiovascular community. Smart for the Heart can be reached through www.sistertosister.org.Status: The Online Wellness Program content, programming code, branding and data collected has been donated to Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, CA.

Capitol Hill Programs: Sister to Sister's Capitol Hill Program was established in 2002 to raise awareness in the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate that heart disease is the leading cause of death among both men and women. The program's initiatives include free screenings and educational events. Over 3,500 legislators and staff members have learned their personal risk for heart disease, and the steps that can be taken to prevent it. In addition to the screenings offered through Sister to Sister's Capitol Hill Program, the Foundation provides education to members and staff with an emphasis on preventing heart disease, recognizing heart attack signs and symptoms for women, understanding personal risk for heart disease and reducing risk through healthy lifestyle choices. Attendees at the events are offered the chance to ask questions of all the speakers and to speak one-on-one with a featured cardiologist. Status: The content and logistics of planning have been shared with Capitol Hill Event Planners for future use/consideration when planning for future events and securing vendors and sponsors.

Screen Us Where We Are (SUWWA): SUWWA was developed in 2014 as a grassroots, non-lobbying political and policy initiative to empower women to request immediate result cardiovascular screenings wherever they receive medical care (OB/GYNs, community health centers, etc.). The goal for 2014 was to develop a "pilot" for this concept with a core group of OB/GYNs and insurers to shape the concept for the program and to determine best practices. The program was also anticipated to bring significantly increased traffic to Sister to Sister's website and Smart for the Heart tool.Status: Screen Us Where We Are started an important and needed dialogue among political leaders and medical provides to provide women immediate-result cardiovascular screenings. The SUWWA handbook and guidelines have been provided to Cedars Sinai Hospital to integrate with its efforts on this initiative.