Multi-Institutional Effort to Improve the Life Expectancy of High-Risk Individuals
University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine are leading a multi-institutional effort to improve cardiac and metabolic health.
Despite life-prolonging advances in medicine and disease prevention, health gaps among certain populations continue lowering health outcomes in poor, resource-deprived communities.
Quite simply, where people live matters. Negative socioeconomic and environmental factors, like poverty, pollution, unstable housing, violence, lack of green space and reduced access to healthy foods and transportation, erode community health. They heighten the risk of cardiovascular disease and other potentially life-altering conditions, especially among high-risk individuals residing in these communities. Social, economic and environmental factors account for 80% of variance in heart health outcomes and cluster geographically.
Clinicians and researchers at the University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine are leading a multi-institutional effort to improve cardiac and metabolic health and reduce the incidence of heart disease and related mortality in Cleveland and Detroit, comparable, densely populated cities whose cardiovascular disease and obesity rates are among the highest in the Midwest.
Join the ACHIEVE Study
Patient-Centered Healthcare
ACHIEVE GreatER Initiative Transforms Heart Health
The initiative—Addressing Cardiometabolic Health Inequities by Early PreVEntion in the Great LakEs Region (ACHIEVE GreatER) Center - involves existing collaborations and resources across Wayne State University and the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, fueling three separate but closely related projects concerning hypertension, heart failure, and cardiovascular disease. The studies focus on disrupting early phases of pathogenesis by addressing patient risk factors and social determinants of health.
The ACHIEVE GreatEr organizations are at the forefront of novel care delivery systems that incorporate transformative community access initiatives to revitalize urban landscapes, free screenings for cardiovascular disease and cancer, and partnership with local community organizations to promote urban health.
University Hospitals ACHIEVE Project Address Underlying Health Gaps in Cleveland
Cleveland has one of the highest cardiovascular disease rates among urban communities in the Midwest, with the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods bearing the burden of poorer health outcomes and higher mortality rates.
To address the underlying health gaps and improve medical outcomes, UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute has launched the ACHIEVE Cleveland Study. The five-year study seeks to identify individuals who are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease to improve their health by addressing social determinants of health (SDoH) and implementing community health worker-facilitated personalized, adaptable lifestyle and life circumstance interventions.
Led by Sanjay Rajagopalan, M.D., Principal Investigator and Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, ACHIEVE Coronary Heart Disease Project will provide unprecedented insight into precision methods for the prevention, detection, and treatment of heart disease risk factors and will promote strategies to improve long-term health. Participants will be screened for blood pressure, glucose, and lipid targets, and will receive a no-cost, state-of-the art coronary calcium (CAC) screening to determine their cardiovascular risk.