• Alex Brown, Rebekah L O'Shea, Kathy Mott, Katharine F McBride, Tony Lawson, Garry L R Jennings, and Essential Service Standards for Equitable National Cardiovascular Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (ESSENCE) Steering Committee.
• South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). PO Box 11060, Adelaide SA 5001; School of Population Health, University of South Australia; Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. PO Box 6492, St Kilda Road Central, Victoria 8008. Electronic address: Alex.Brown@sahmri.com.
• Heart Lung Circ. 2015 Feb 1; 24 (2): 126-41.

AbstractCardiovascular diseases (CVD) constitute the largest cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and remain the primary contributor to life expectancy differentials between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians. As such, CVD remains the most critical target for reducing the life expectancy gap. The Essential Service Standards for Equitable National Cardiovascular Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (ESSENCE) outline elements of care that are necessary to reduce disparity in access and outcomes for five critical cardiovascular conditions. The ESSENCE approach builds a foundation on which the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians can be reduced. The standards purposefully focus on the prevention and management of CVD extending across the continuum of risk and disease. Each of the agreed essential service standards are presented alongside the most critical targets for policy development and health system reform aimed at mitigating population disparity in CVD and related conditions.Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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