Women's Health Across the Lifespan

Women's health issues continue to capture the spotlight in state legislatures, as the importance of health-related topics have grown along with demands on state budgets.  Policymakers are often forced to view women's health by issue area such as breast cancer, chronic disease or pregnancy.  A better way to understand women's health involves looking at a woman's life comprehensively.

Women's health begins at birth.  In early childhood, health depends on proper nutrition and physical activity, and immunizations. As girls move into the teen and early adult years, awareness, prevention and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and tobacco use become a concern for policymakers. Policymakers also address a variety of reproductive issues.  Each year legislators made decisions about family planning, insurance mandates for contraceptives, infertility treatments,  prenatal/postnatal services, breastfeeding, newborn screening and preventative screenings for women. As women grow older their health needs change.  Management of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases becomes vital, as does screening for and knowledge about lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, diabetes and a variety of other conditions.  Mental health services throughout a woman's lifespan greatly affect her overall health as well.   

Women's Health News and Updates

• Alzheimer's Disease
  NCSL Postcard, September 2012
• Addressing Women's Health Needs and Improving Birth Outcomes: Results from a Peer-to-Peer State Medicaid Learning Project
  The Commonwealth Fund, August 2012
• Improving Babies' Health and Reducing Medicaid Costs
  NCSL Legisbrief about reducing infant mortality, June 2012
• Chemotherapy Treatment Options and Policies
  NCSL Legisbrief about chemotherapy, May 2012
• National Women’s Health Week 2012 is May 13-19
  Information related to the week from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health
• Smoking During Pregnancy
  NCSL Postcard, March 2012 
• Improving Women’s Health: Opportunities and Challenges in Health Reform Issue Brief
  NCSL publication about women’s health and the Affordable Care Act, February 2012 
• Improving Women’s Health: Opportunities and Challenges of Health Reform 2011 Meeting Archive
  NCSL meeting presentations and audio recording
• States Implement Health Reform Brief: Women’s Health
  NCSL brief about provisions in the Affordable Care Act that relate to women’s health, November 2011 
• Healthy People 2020: A Roadmap for Health
  NCSL Legisbrief about the Healthy People 2020 initiative, June 2011
• Immunizations and the Affordable Care Act
  NCSL Legisbrief about the immunization-related provisions of the Affordable Care Act, April 2011 
• Healthy People 2020 and Maternal and Child Health
  NCSL webpage about the 10-year national agenda of shifting the focus from treating diseases to prevention
• Medicaid Family Planning Expansions
  NCSL Postcard, March 2011 
• Improving Women’s Health: State Policy Options Checklist
  NCSL publication about women’s health policy options, March 2011 
• Policy Options to Improve the Health of Women of All Ages 2010 Meeting Archive
  NCSL meeting presentations and audio recording
• 2010 Women's Health Report Card
  National Women's Law Center
• Women's Health Care Chartbook: Key Findings From the Kaiser Women's Health Survey
  Kaiser Family Foundation, May 2011
• Women’s Health and Chronic Disease 2008 and 2009 Meeting Archives
  NCSL meeting presentations and audio recordings
• NCSL Health Reform and Women, Children and Adolescents webpage
• Roadblocks to Health Care: Why the Current Health Care System Does Not Work for Women
  Federal Office of Health Reform, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services             

NCSL Women's Health Fall Forum Preconferences

Fall Forum 2012 Preconference - Improving Women's Health: Research, Innovation, and Leadership

Fall Forum 2011 Preconference - Improving Women's Health: Opportunities and Challenges of Health Reform

Fall Forum 2010 Preconference - Policy Options to Improve the Health of Women of All Ages

Fall Forum 2009 Preconference

Improving Women's Health Through the Prevention, Detection and Management of Chronic Disease

San Diego, California
December 9-10, 2009

The rising rates of chronic health problems pose a significant and unsustainable burden on the U.S. health care system. What is chronic disease? How does it affect women differently? What is the role of health reform in these efforts? What are some effective prevention, screening and intervention efforts targeting women? Learn about various programs that focus on cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

December 9, 2009
Click here to listen to the first day of the Improving Women's Health Preconference.

Importance of Targeting Women in the Prevention, Detection and Management of Chronic Disease

Susan F. Wood, Executive Director, Jacobs Institute of Women's Health and Associate Professor of Health Policy and Environmental and Occupational Health at George Washington University.
"Women's Health and Healthcare Reform," PowerPoint Presentation.

December 10, 2009
Click here to listen to the second day of the Improving Women's Health Preconference.

State Efforts to Prevent Chronic Disease: Promoting Wellness and Healthy Living

Karen Shore, Vice President for Planning and Health Policy, Center for Health Improvement, Sacramento, California.
"State Efforts to Keep Employees Healthy: Worksite Wellness Programs," PowerPoint Presentation.

Lisa Grost, Public Health Consultant, Building Healthy Communities and Physical Activity, Michigan Department of Community Health.
"Building Healthy Communities in Michigan," PowerPoint Presentation.

Detection and Management of Chronic Disease in the States

Pamela Protzel Berman, Deputy Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
"Improving Women's Health Through the Prevention and Control of Chronic Disease: A Federal Perspective," PowerPoint Presentation.

Paula F. Clayton, Director, Office of Health Promotion, Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
"Detection and Management of Chronic Disease in Kansas," PowerPoint Presentation.

Cynthia Jackevicius, Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California.
"Medication Adherence and Chronic Disease Management," PowerPoint Presentation.

Fall Forum 2008 Preconference 

Women's Health: A Focus on Chronic Disease

Atlanta, Georgia
December 10-11, 2008

Collaborating to Fight Chronic Disease

Roger Moe, Minnesota Chair, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease; former Senate Majority Leader, Minnesota.
"Collaborating to Fight Chronic Disease: How One Partnership Has Impacted the Debate About Health Reform," PowerPoint Presentation. 

Women's Health Across the Nation

Judy Hannan, RN, MPH, Deputy Director, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"Women's Health Across the Nation: A Federal Perspective," PowerPoint Presentation.

State Activities to Prevent and Control Choronic Diseases

Sharon Moffatt, Chief, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
"State Activities to Prevent and Control Chronic Disease," PowerPoint Presenation.

State Activities to Promote Physical Activity

Jacqueline Epping, Lead Public Health Scientist and Team Leader, Guidelines and Recommendations Team of the Physical Activity and Health Branch, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"State Activities to Promote Physical Activity," PowerPoint Presentation.

Promising Practices to Prevent Chronic Disease

David Hoffman, MEd, Director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, New York State Department of Health; Chair of Policy Committee, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors.
"Chronic Disease Today and Tomorrow: Promising Practices," PowerPoint Presenation.

Fall Forum 2007: What Legislators Can Do to Improve Women’s Health
Phoenix, Arizona
November 27-28, 2007

The State of Women's Health in America

Wanda Jones, Dr.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Director of the Office on Women's Health, DHHS.
 
Women's Health Policy: Coverage and Access to Care
Alina Salganicoff, Ph.D., Vice President and Director, Women's Health Policy, Kaiser Foundation. 
View Alina Salganicoff's presentation.
 
Chronic Disease, Women's Health and State Budget Impact
Mary Kennedy, Senior Vice President, State Initiatives and Medicaid Development, Evercare.
View Mary Kennedy's presentation. 
 
Promoting Healthy Pregnancies and Ensuring Healthy Futures
Sharron Corle, Senior Program Director, Association of Maternal and Child Health Plans.
View Sharron Corle's presentation.
 
Women's Mental Health: Improving the Lives of Women with Histories of Trauma
Joan Gillece, Ph.D., Program Officer, National Center for Trauma-Informed Care, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.
View Joan Gillece's presentation. 

Fall Forum 2006: Women’s Health Across the Lifespan
San Antonio, Texas
December 6, 2006
 

Thinking Differently: Opportunities for Improving Women's Health Through A Higher-Level Approach.
Wanda Jones, Dr.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Director of the Office on Women's Health, DHHS.
Dr. Jones's PowerPoint Presentation.
 
Women’s Health Report Card
Dr. Michelle Berlin, Oregon Health & Science University, Director, Center of Excellence in Women's Health, Associate Professor, Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology.
Dr. Berlin's PowerPoint Presentation
 
State Perspectives in Women’s Health: The Texas & Arizona Experience
Dr. Sandra Guerra-Cantu, Public Health Regional Medical Director, Texas Department of State Health Services, San Antonio, Texas.
Suncerria Tillis, MBA, Manager, Arizona Health Disparities Center/Healthy Arizona 2010, Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. Guerra-Cantu's PowerPoint Presentation
Suncerria Tillis's PowerPoint Presentation

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