About 44% of women in the U.S. are living with a form of heart disease, and heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. Making matters worse is the lack of knowledge about these stats: only 56% of women realize that heart disease is the number one killer for American women. Cardiovascular disease in the U.S. costs about $363 billion annually in direct and indirect costs (such as missed workdays).
That’s why the Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) released a free guide for employers on Thursday that is focused on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity in women. New York City-based NEBGH is a nonprofit organization that represents 80 large employers who are mostly self-insured.
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The first half of the 40-page guide titled “Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes and Obesity in Women: A Guide for Employers” offers education on these conditions and how they affect women. This includes information on risk factors of these conditions and differences compared to men. For example, women are more than twice as likely to die following a heart attack than men, the guide explains. Women are also seven times more likely to be misdiagnosed and discharged while having a heart attack than men. This is because women sometimes have different symptoms than men do, like fainting, indigestion and extreme fatigue.
In addition, the guide explains health disparities by race and ethnicity, including the fact that Black women have higher cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality rates compared to women of other races and ethnicities. Hispanic women are more than twice as likely to have diabetes than White women.
“As in many things we talk about in terms of illness among women, health disparities by race and ethnicity are significant,” said Candice Sherman, CEO of NEBGH, in an interview. “I think those statistics are important to get in front of people.”
The second half of the guide focuses on specific actions that employers can take to support the women in their workforce when it comes to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. This includes promoting a healthy lifestyle through healthy eating and physical activity, like making healthy food options available at the office and providing onsite exercise options. In addition, NEBGH recommends implementing awareness campaigns so people understand the signs of a heart attack better and the ways symptoms differ between men and women.
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Employers should also use surveys to seek input from their female employees on the programs they want. And with many employers working with vendors focused on heart conditions, diabetes and obesity, NEBGH listed questions they should be asking these vendors (including the percentage of women providers in their network and how they engage women patients).
Ultimately, however, employers should be helping women advocate for themselves and their health. They can do this by encouraging women to prioritize their health over others and change providers if they feel they’re not being listened to.
“Women can be told, ‘Oh, it’s all in your head’ or ‘You’re probably stressed out’ and sometimes physicians don’t take these things seriously,” Sherman said. “We know that women with obesity can experience stigma among healthcare practitioners, and that’s something to be aware of. It’s [important to encourage] women to be aware of how they’re being treated in a healthcare setting.”
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