Women's cardiac rehabilitation: improving access using principles of women's health

There is growing awareness among health care providers, government and community organizations that sex and gender are relevant to issues of health. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one area that has been in the spotlight with respect to sex and gender differences. The myth that CVD is a 'man's disease' has been thoroughly debunked and it is now acknowledged that CVD is the number one killer of women in Canada. Despite this, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs are largely under-utilized by women. This paper presents a case study of a CR program in Toronto and describes how one hospital has used their Principles of Women's Health to address barriers to CR for women. The Principles of Women's Health are described, program elements that embody these principles are reviewed and implications for the future of CR for women are discussed.