A Viewpoint published in JACC: Advances makes the case that addressing persistent inequities in cardiovascular health will require scalable, community-centered approaches that bring care, education, and preventive services directly into the communities where people live.

As hospitals across the country face financial pressures, closures and reductions in support, Nausheen Akhter, MD, FACC, et al., argue that traditional care models alone cannot adequately reach vulnerable populations or close gaps in access to care. They point to successful community-based interventions, including mobile health screening programs and partnerships embedded within trusted community settings like barbershops, as evidence that meeting people where they are can improve engagement and help address gaps left by an increasingly strained health care safety net.

However, the Viewpoint stresses that long-term success depends on building trust, developing culturally sensitive interventions, and creating sustainable frameworks that can be replicated and scalable. Using ACC’s community health fair initiative as an example, the authors propose a professional society framework for community-centered cardiovascular health equity grounded in five core principles: health equity and inclusion, community trust, team-based care, data-informed decision-making, and continuous stakeholder assessment

Over the last three years, the ACC has partnered with its local Chapters to host Community Health Fairs in Atlanta, Chicago and New Orleans leading up to its Annual Scientific Session. According to Akhter and colleagues, these fairs, which bring together community-based organizations, schools, faith-based partners and health professionals to provide education, screening and preventive services tailored to local needs, demonstrate how successful partnerships can identify previously undiagnosed cardiovascular conditions while strengthening community connections and awareness.

"Advancing cardiovascular medicine will require deeper community engagement through the collective leadership of the entire cardiovascular team and a shared understanding that community-based initiatives are fundamental to equitable care,” write Akhter, et al. They add: “Our experiences demonstrate how a professional society can translate these high-level principles into actionable, sustainable local engagement strategies for cardiovascular health equity.”