Other Health Care Resources
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Health Reports
Reports & Publications
Listed below are sites that provide reports and publications you can access if interested in health care-related reports published by various agencies.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Health Resources and Services Administration
Veterans Affairs (VA)
National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics
Veterans Benefits Administration
Veterans Health Administration
VA Office of the Inspector General
WomenVetsUSA Resources
Visit the WomenVetsUSA "Library," "News," and "Media" pages for posted reports and public discourse regarding published and released reports.
National Health Observances/Awareness
National Health Observances (NHOs) are special days, weeks, or months dedicated to raising awareness about important health topics. Whether you're interested solely for yourself and your family or you're looking for a toolkit to organize an event, the NHO link is a great place to start!
Outreach Materials: Women Veterans Health Care Toolkit
Need posters and brochures for outreach and networking? The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides an extensive public use-library at their Women Veterans Health Care "Outreach Materials" and "Latest Information Brochures and Publications" online outreach center.
External Website: Department of Veterans Affairs Women's Health Outreach Toolkit
Research
Why Research?
Research pertinent to women veterans' health has a very short Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) history to date, but it has exponentially increased in the VA since 2004. The VA's January 2015 "Research on Women's Health" fact sheet includes developments through 2014. Some of the reasons research is important follows:
- Evidence-based research opens the door for funding appropriate comprehensive care--primary, specialty, and gender-specific--for women with military service who served in non-combat and combat environments.
- Health care providers become more holistically trained, culturally competent and more proficient and knowledgeable practitioners for all veterans.
- Medical Directors hire qualified staff to provide gender-specific and specialty care such as OB/GYN and gender-sensitive mental health therapies.
- Servicemembers can be assigned in areas with hazardous exposures. There can be gender-related differences in subsequent health symptoms to include adverse reproductive impact.
- Servicemembers are both victims/survivors and perpetrators of felony and misdemeanor domestic and workplace violence. Prevention and care is pivotal to personal, family and work force health care and costs and directly impacts recruitment, retention and unit readiness and cohesion.
- DOD and VA medical administrators can forecast the purchase of medical equipment and supplies. For example, purchasing mammography and osteoporosis screening technologies as well as female prostheses and Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) kits.
- Medical facilities plan construction with respect for all veterans' access, safety and privacy.
- Women are represented in applicable health forums.
- Uniforms and protective equipment, like Kevlar vests, helmets, gas masks, etc., can be engineered for gender characteristics.
See VA Research on Women's Health fact sheet which provides an overview of the history
VA's CREATE: Women Veterans Healthcare Initiative
The VA's "CREATE: Women Veterans Healthcare Initiative," one of several VA CREATE cross-functional research efforts, strives to 'conduct research to examine the essential factors that facilitate (or slow) the pace, effectiveness and outcomes of delivery of comprehensive care for women Veterans within the VA healthcare system. Specifically, the program's goals are to:
Examine patient, provider and organizational barriers and facilitators to implementing comprehensive care delivery for women Veterans;
Assess the underlying factors associated with delivery of comprehensive care for women Veterans, and those factors' implications for the quality and experience of care women Veterans receive in VA; and,
Evaluate the effectiveness and impact of alternate models of delivering comprehensive care to women Veterans.'
Program partners and projects and video are posted on the VA CREATE site.
Other VA research links:
VA Women's Health, Office of Research & Development
Health Resources and Services Administration: Office of Women's Health
The Office of Women's Health (OWH) coordinates women's health-related activities across the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to reduce sex and gender-based disparities and support comprehensive, culturally competent, and quality health care. Their priorities include the Affordable Care Act, violence prevention and the health care workforce.
National Institutes of Health: Office of Research on Women's Health
Women's health research is an essential part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research agenda and includes the study of health throughout the lifespan and across the spectrum of scientific investigations: from basic research and laboratory studies to molecular research, genetics, and clinical trials. Researchers are investigating healthy lifestyles and behavior, risk reduction and disease prevention as well as searching for best ways to diagnose and treat chronic conditions.
Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR)
A national non-profit founded in 1990 and based in Washington D.C., SWHR promotes research on biological differences in disease and is dedicated to transforming women's health through science, advocacy, and education. SWHRs efforts have ensured women are routinely included in most major medical research studies, that sex is a variable in research and that diseases and conditions that disproportionately or predominately affect women are publicly known.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Office of Women's Health
The FDA Office of Women's Health (OWH) promotes and conducts research initiatives that facilitate FDA regulatory decision-making and advance the understanding of sex differences and health conditions unique to women. This site includes registries, clinical trials and research reports.
University/College Research
Many U.S. universities and colleges host centers of research, education and clinical practice to improve women's health by fostering innovation and collaboration. A search for "women's health research" yields many results.
Women's Health Issues: Health and Health Care of Women Veterans and Women in the Military
The Women's Health Issues (WHI) editorial team assembled a special collection of research published between 2012-2014 in the journal since the 2011 special supplement "Health and Health Care of Women Veterans and Women in the Military." Topics include mental health, healthcare services, reproductive health, military sexual trauma, and cardiovascular health among women veterans.
WomenVetsUSA Resources
Visit the WomenVetsUSA "Library," "News," "Media," "Historical Timelines," "Memorials" and "Museums" pages for research as well as current events and historical information.