Poverty affects heart disease

The annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology is scheduling a discussion on poverty and cardiovascular disease, conference officials say. "Deprivation undoubtedly is the elephant in the room. We all know it plays an important role in cardiovascular disease, but don't know how to tackle the problem," Dr. Donna Fitzsimons, the chairwoman of the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions, said in a statement. "One of the main issues is that interventions are developed by and geared towards people from higher socioeconomic groups." Speakers will cover subjects including disparities in cardiac care and tailoring nursing interventions to take account of deprivation and inequality, Fitzsimons said. "We'll be thinking out of the box to provide ideas to reach out to people who are less interested in their heath," Fitzsimons said. "We're starting to appreciate that it's really important to have greater user involvement to ensure that interventions are developed in formats that are more attractive to the people who really need them." More than 600 delegates from Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand are expected to attend the conference March 22-23 in Scotland.