Women's heart health

Research funding agency policies can affect quality of evidence, the inclusion of women and sub groups, and the funding, monitoring and publication of useful analyses. [...] Yet, because of the complex nature of women’s health, change at the individual level requires change at the policy level to address gender and diversity based differences in risk, and access to health and health care. [...] Improved clinical practices that refl ect the integration of sex, gender and a range of diversity issues and social determinants into diagnosis and treatment are key to improving women’s treatment and care. [...] Using such an approach helps to improve our understanding of sex and gender as determinants of health, of their interaction with other determinants, and the effectiveness of how we design and implement sex- and gender-sensitive policies and programs [19]. [...] Applying this lens of analysis to the literature review enables us to critically examine how women’s heart health has been studied, identify the important sex and gender specifi c factors and issues of concern to women and women’s health advocates, and identify important gaps and future considerations for research, programs and policies.