Federal grant aims to address social determinants of health in Black neighborhoods in Cleveland

The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute have received an $18.2 million federal grant from the National Institutes of Health to lead a multi-organizational effort addressing cardiovascular health disparities (Source: “CWRU, UH receive $18.2 million federal grant to address social determinants of health in Black neighborhoods,” Cleveland.com, Oct. 12).

The initiative involves CWRU, UH and Wayne State University in Detroit. The institutions will work to address social drivers of health in Black communities in Cleveland and Detroit, according to a joint statement from CWRU and UH.

The initiative’s goal is to reduce cardiovascular complications and hospitalizations by improving blood pressure, lipids and glucose targets for Black patients who are at high risk for poor heart health, said Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan, the principal investigator of the initiative.

Education, socio-economic status, geography and environmental factors contribute to the burden of cardiovascular disease in the United States, Rajagopalan said in the statement.

“There are seismic gaps that exist in health care for Black Americans that continue to result in disproportionate and disappointingly poor outcomes,” he said. “This transformative grant will help to address some of these health disparities.”