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Working Hearts

Working Hearts: Strong Women/Strong Hearts

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States and can affect women of any age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, it was responsible for the deaths of 310,661 women — or about 1 in every 5 female deaths. Black women experience even higher rates of heart disease, hypertension, and death from these conditions than white women. Research shows that only about 56% of U.S. women recognize that heart disease is the primary threat to their health.

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) recognized this problem early on. In 2000, unwilling to accept the stark statistics around women’s heart health, JHF provided funding to launch the Working Hearts Coalition, chaired by JHF board member Patricia Siger, spawning a highly successful public health awareness initiative that ran from 2002–2007.

Working Hearts® analyzed the problem of women’s heart health by borrowing a tool from the Toyota Production System and Perfecting Patient Care System™ being advanced through the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, finding that:

  • Women are unaware of their true risks from heart disease.
  • Even when women know the risks of heart disease, they do not modify their behavior.
  • Funding to sustain research, treatment, and educational efforts aimed at women's heart health are not in place.

The Working Hearts Coalition, a collective of women’s organizations and health-related groups, banded together to empower women to make behavioral changes to reduce their risk of heart disease and to prepare them to talk with their healthcare provider. It helped begin a movement.

Working Hearts grew quickly to become a coalition of more than 70 community organizations dedicated to the credo "Strong Women/Strong Hearts." The plan was to get women to know their numbers (body mass index, cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure) and to realize that making incremental changes in their lifestyles could greatly affect their risk for developing heart disease. Building on its success, Working Hearts expanded its mission in 2005 to address the needs of working-age men and women because we believe that an informed employee can be a "well" employee.

The model capitalized on the natural women’s networks that crisscross our community. It encouraged women to help women, healthcare systems to partner for the greater good, experts to share their knowledge and build outreach strategies, and community-based organizations and their volunteers to carry the message to their constituents. Featuring WTAE media personality Sally Wiggin as spokesperson, the model captured the spirit of Pittsburgh—people collaborating for a good cause.

Working Hearts provided a model on which to address a new priority in our community and to start a conversation about maximizing the quality of life at the end of life. The initiative demonstrated the value of reaching out to community-based organizations, healthcare systems, clergy, legal experts, care providers, and caregivers alike to begin such conversations.