Cardiologist Dr. Jennifer Mieres is leading a women-centered holistic approach to heart health, a contemporary movement that is changing the narrative of heart disease. One of the world’s leading experts in the fields of nuclear cardiology, cardiovascular disease in women and patient-centered healthcare, Mieres advocates alongside women’s heart disease campaigns with a new approach that is necessary to move the needle on women’s heart health stats.
As an executive leader at Northwell Health (formerly, NorthShore LIJ Health Systems), Mieres has witnessed the nation’s 30 percent decrease in the number of women dying of heart disease since 2000. February is Heart Month and significant progress has been made in heart disease awareness, yet it still remains the leading cause of death among women. In the sea of red, there remains a vast population that is still not translating the heart health message.“We are pleased to see the improvement,” says Mieres. “Yet nearly half of U.S. women still fail to identify heart disease or partner with their health care professionals to make change. There is also still a significant ethnic minority gap that persists as well. Now that we are aware of heart disease, we need to aggressively change the narrative to heart health education, while improving on cultural competency, patient partnership, health literacy and the overall elimination of health care disparities.”
Mieres advocates a customized women-centered approach that considers the physical, ethnic, mental, and social well-being of individual women.This holistic model empowers women to personalize and translate heart disease awareness into sustainable healthy living through lifestyle choices, risk factor modification and personal commitment to health and wellness. As the medical director of the Center for Learning and Innovation and an Associate Professor Medicine at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Mieres is taking a top-down approach. She educates health care professionals and patients alike on gender-specific differences in symptoms, diagnosis and preventative and treatment strategies.
“We celebrate Heart Month with great anticipation and focus on engaging the average woman with practical preventative education tools that support patient-centered partnership in health care, early detection and proper treatment.” says Mieres.