The Communication of Scientific Information to Scientists, Clinicians, and the Public: Recommendations for Achieving Health Equity.

Optimizing health care decisions relies critically on the availability of health-related information appropriate to the specific needs and circumstances of the individual. Abundant research has demonstrated that information relevant to health care decision-making reflects disparities along multiple axes of sex, race, socioeconomic status, geography, sexual orientation, and other factors. Compounding the problem is that mechanisms of access to information themselves, increasingly recognized as part of the social determinants of health, can perpetuate and even exacerbate these disparities. Critical to achieving neurologic health equity is the application of evidence-based strategies to inform the effective and efficient communication of information that can influence patients' behaviors, enhance community trust in the scientific enterprise, and shape health systems and policies. In 2020, as part of a strategic planning initiative, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) charged its Advisory Council to form a working group of experts to provide recommendations for reducing health disparities. Here, we report our subgroup's findings, which focused on the role of communication in addressing neurologic disparities and inequities to achieve health equity. We find a need for incentivizing and supporting the application of communication science across the spectrum of neurologic health research. We present recommendations for NINDS and individual investigators to support communication activities that advance neurologic health equity.

Forecasting the future of stroke in the United States: a policy statement from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke is a leading cause of disability, cognitive impairment, and death in the United States and accounts for 1.7% of national health expenditures. Because the population is aging and the risk of stroke more than doubles for each successive decade after the age of 55 years, these costs are anticipated to rise dramatically. The objective of this report was to project future annual costs of care for stroke from 2012 to 2030 and discuss potential cost reduction strategies. METHODS AND RESULTS: The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association developed methodology to project the future costs of stroke-related care. Estimates excluded costs associated with other cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, coronary heart disease, and congestive heart failure). By 2030, 3.88% of the US population>18 years of age is projected to have had a stroke. Between 2012 and 2030, real (2010$) total direct annual stroke-related medical costs are expected to increase from $71.55 billion to $183.13 billion. Real indirect annual costs (attributable to lost productivity) are projected to rise from $33.65 billion to $56.54 billion over the same period. Overall, total annual costs of stroke are projected to increase to $240.67 billion by 2030, an increase of 129%. CONCLUSIONS: These projections suggest that the annual costs of stroke will increase substantially over the next 2 decades. Greater emphasis on implementing effective preventive, acute care, and rehabilitative services will have both medical and societal benefits.