Unraveling the Multifaceted Health Determinants in Cardiovascular Secondary Prevention: Bridging Disparities through Nursing-Led Interventions and Collaborative Care

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading contributors to global morbidity and mortality, with recurrent events imposing a profound burden on individuals, healthcare systems, and societies. Cardiovascular nursing stands at the frontline of secondary prevention, where nurses play pivotal roles in delivering and innovating evidence-based care, health education, and rehabilitation, often through collaborative and integrative models with interdisciplinary teams.

Despite advances in pharmacological therapies, lifestyle modification, and guideline-driven cardiac rehabilitation, disparities in secondary prevention outcomes remain pronounced across different populations. Numerous studies underscore that the effectiveness of interventions is intimately tied to a complex interplay of social, economic, environmental, behavioral, and cultural determinants - factors that cardiovascular nurses continuously encounter during patient assessment, care planning, and follow-up.

Crucially, these determinants influence patient adherence, engagement with cardiac rehabilitation, and overall long-term prognosis. For instance, socioeconomic and educational gaps may restrict access to medications, healthy nutrition, and consistent healthcare follow-up. Psychosocial stressors such as depression, health illiteracy, and inadequate social support can impede motivation for lifestyle changes. Environmental exposures and structural factors - like fragmented care models or insufficient community resources - present ongoing challenges to equitable and effective disease management.

This Research Topic, “Unravelling the Multifaceted Health Determinants in Cardiovascular Secondary Prevention: Bridging Disparities through Nursing-Led Interventions and Collaborative Care”, seeks to advance the understanding of how nurses, as patient advocates and care coordinators, can address and mitigate these determinants. We invite research, reviews, and case studies illuminating how cardiovascular nursing-leveraging compassionate, patient-centered, and collaborative approaches, addresses disparities, promotes health, and improves secondary prevention outcomes.

Key themes of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Nursing Roles in Social and Economic Determinants: Exploring how cardiovascular nurses assess and intervene on income, education, and access barriers to optimize disease management, medication adherence, and rehabilitation participation.
• Models of Collaborative and Integrative Care: Evaluating interdisciplinary and nurse-led models that improve patient safety, quality assessment, continuity of care, and long-term health outcomes in diverse populations.
• Compassionate Nursing and Psychosocial Support: Assessing the impact of mental health support, health literacy promotion, and community engagement on sustaining lifestyle changes.
• Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: Highlighting nursing strategies for secondary prevention, including innovative digital health interventions and community-based programs targeting at-risk groups.
• Addressing Environmental and Cultural Barriers: Approaches to tailoring nursing interventions for patients affected by urbanization, pollution, and cultural beliefs, including culturally sensitive care and advocacy for vulnerable groups.
• Quality Assessment and Care Improvement: Nursing-led initiatives to assess and address systemic gaps, ensuring that models of care meet patient needs and safety standards while advancing Sustainable Development.

We seek contributions that challenge traditional paradigms and demonstrate how cardiovascular nursing research and practice can transform secondary prevention from a one-size-fits-all approach to a dynamic, equitable, and patient-centered framework.

By synthesizing state-of-the-art evidence with practical nursing experience, this collection will be an essential resource for cardiovascular nurses, interdisciplinary teams, policymakers, and stakeholders aiming to reduce disparities and promote sustainable, high-quality cardiovascular care for all.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Cardiovascular nursing, Secondary prevention, Health disparities, Social determinants of health, Nurse-led interventions, Collaborative care

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.