Commentary: Collaborating For Change: Creating a Women's Health Network

The definition of women's health has broadened and the women's health movement has gained significant momentum over the past 2 decades. Over that period of time, many women's health organizations and advocacy groups have lobbied successfully for increased funding for women's health research, and heightened awareness of gendered health issues such as breast cancer, osteoporosis, and reproductive health ([Greenberger, 1999], [Mosca et al] and [Norinsky, 1979]), At the local level, however, women's health services and resources are often fragmented, scarce, and poorly coordinated. As a result of these deficiencies, many women are underserved and their health needs go unmet. The 18 National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health, established through funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office on Women's Health (OWH), have demonstrated successful models of integrated health care delivery for women (Weisman & Squires, 2000). However, these clinical care centers are susceptible to changes in federal funding and singular institutional support (Collins, 2002). Recent published reports emphasize a greater need for interdisciplinary collaboration to strengthen the overarching women's health agenda at the local and state levels, where policy relevant to women's health is often formulated and implemented (Pinn, 2001 V.W. Pinn, Science and advocacy as partners: The Office of Research on Women's Health in the 1990s, Journal of the American Medical Womens Association 56 (2001), pp. 7778. This article describes the need for and development of a regional women's health network and the lessons learned by an interinstitutional, interdisciplinary organization dedicated to advancing women's health through collaborations in education, research, and advocacy. [Copyright Jacobs Institute of Women's Health; published by Elsevier Science Inc.]