Jacobs Institute of Women's Health

Women’s Health Must be a Priority for States as They Set Up Health Exchange Marketplaces, New Report Says

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Women’s issues play a major role in the health of the nation and should be a key consideration for policymakers as they design and set up the new insurance exchanges, according to a report co-authored by policy experts at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS). The report offers a checklist for the state-based health insurance exchanges, one that will help ensure that women, children and family members can get the services they need to prevent costly and debilitating medical problems.

“Women often use a greater range of health services over a lifetime; they may also shoulder higher annual medical costs and often act as coordinators of health care for entire families,” said co-author Susan F. Wood, PhD, who is the executive director of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health and a professor of health policy at SPHHS. “This report identifies some of the major issues that states will need to consider if they are to provide the kinds of services that can keep millions of American women and their families healthy.”

The Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, at SPHHS, The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital all worked together to produce the report: Ensuring the Health Care Needs of Women: A Checklist for Health Exchanges.

This report and checklist includes resources from a wide range of organizations that focus on the implementation of health care reform, which can be found at a new website: www.womenandhealthreform.org.

The report notes that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) established online marketplaces where women can comparison shop for health insurance plans. Some states, like Massachusetts, have well-established exchanges already in place but many others are scrambling to set them up now, Wood said. Under the ACA, women will have greater access to health insurance and to no-cost preventive services that can keep them healthy--such as mammograms and other screening tests that can detect cancer and other chronic diseases at an early, more treatable stage.

This report, and the checklist, can help states fashion insurance exchanges that will best meet the needs of millions of American women. According to the report, state officials should consider:

Many Solutions Could Alleviate Persistent Liability Problems in Maternity Care

New research shows that many widely held beliefs about maternity care and liability lack empirical support; better understanding points the way to effective interventions

Medical liability has been a longstanding concern in maternity care, a major segment of the health care system. Women’s Health Issues, the peer-reviewed journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, announces the publication of three articles and an invited commentary based on a new report issued by Childbirth Connection, Maternity Care and Liability: Pressing Problems, Substantive Solutions.

The first of three articles in Women’s Health Issues presents an overview of the full report. The second article considers the strategies for improvement that do not hold up well to the seven criteria for a high functioning liability system in maternity care. The third article considers the strategies that appear to meet multiple aims of a high-functioning system, which are candidates for demonstration and evaluation within states, health systems, or other appropriate entities. Also published is an invited commentary by Sara Rosenbaum, JD, of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and William M. Sage, MD, JD, of the University of Texas at Austin.

Women’s Health IssuesEditor-in-Chief Anne Markus, PhD, JD, said, “We are pleased to foster new, constructive dialogue about crucial policy matters for childbearing women and newborns, those who care for them, and those who pay for their care.” For broad access to results of this investigation, the journal articles are freely available online, and a report appendix provides 10 one-page fact sheets on topics of special interest to key stakeholder groups.

The Editors and Editorial Board are pleased to announce that the 1-year and 5-year impact factors increased significantly over 2010. Women's Health Issues 1-year 2011 impact factor is 1.61. It is ranked 3rd out of 38 journals in the Women's Studies category of the Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Scientific. The 2011 5-year impact factor is 2.078, also ranking it 3rd out of 38 journals in the Women's Studies category.

The Editors and Editorial Board of Women's Health Issues have updated the editorial scope of the journal, as well as the Instructions for Authors. We now require that all full-length manuscripts include a section entitled, "Implications for Practice and/or Policy." This section should address what practical lessons practitioners and/or policymakers can learn from the authors' work and potentially implement to improve women's health outcomes. Our updated Editorial Scope is:

Women's Health Issues is a peer-reviewed, bimonthly, multidisciplinary journal that publishes original research on women's health care and policy.

The journal has a particular focus on women's issues in the context of the U.S. health care delivery system and policymaking processes, although it invites submissions addressing women's health care issues in global context if relevant to North American readers. As the official journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, it builds on a history of valuing methodologically rigorous investigation as a basis for improving the quality of health care for women and the health of women across the lifespan.

The journal seeks to inform health services researchers, social scientists, health care and public health professionals, and policymakers and to engage readers in the perspectives of multiple disciplines relevant to the study of women's health.

Please note that we do not accept for review clinical case reports or standard literature reviews. Systematic literature reviews that include data syntheses (rather than just summaries of published work), and translational and implementation research studies are welcome.

The Editorial Board of Women’s Health Issues is pleased to announce that the Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize for the best paper published in Women's Health Issues in 2011 (Volume 21) has been awarded to Jacqueline L. Angel, PhD, Professor of Public Affairs and Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Angel’s Policy Matters manuscript, “A Window of Vulnerability: Health Insurance Coverage Among Women 55 to 64 Years of Age,” was co-authored with her colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin, Jennifer Karas Montez, MS, MA, and Ronald J. Angel, PhD. The manuscript was published in Women's Health Issues Volume 21, Issue 1 (January/February 2011), pages 6-11.

The Editorial Board also designated two excellent manuscripts to receive “Honorable Mention:”

For more information and to download free copies of these manuscripts, please visit The Gibbs Leadership Prize.

Statement of Dr. Susan Wood, Executive Director, Jacobs Institute of Women's Health Regarding

Dr. Susan Wood, former FDA Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health and associate professor of Health Policy and Director of the Jacobs Institute at The GW School of Public Health and Health Services is available to comment on the FDA’s action denying the application to lift the age limit for sale of Plan B, or the morning after pill. This decision would have enabled retailers to sell Plan B on the shelf, as opposed to behind the pharmacy counter, where it is currently sold.

To interview Dr. Wood, please contact: Anne Banner, abanner@gwumc.edu, w: 202-994-2261, c: 202-321-1389

Susan Wood, PhD,
Associate Professor of Health Policy and of Environmental and Occupational Health Executive Director of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health

This decision is stunning. I had come to believe that the FDA would be allowed to make decisions based on science and the public’s health. Sadly, once again, FDA has been over-ruled and not allowed to do its job. I cannot understand why Secretary Sebelius would reach in and overturn the FDA’s decision to allow timely access for all those who need safe and effective emergency contraception.

Get the latest evidence-based information on women and heart disease from a project led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health in collaboration with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, with assistance from the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health. These slide sets, videos, and Medscape CME modules were developed by a team of women’s health and cardiology experts. Materials have been updated to reflect the new 2011 American Heart Association evidence-based guidelines for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease among women. Updated CME/CE modules from Medscape are also now available at:

Women’s Health Issues Supplement Showcases Gender-Responsive National HIV/AIDS Programming for U.S. Women and Girls

A new Supplement of the peer-reviewed journal, Women’s Health Issues, a publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at the GW School of Public Health and Health Services, provides in-depth information about gender-specific health considerations of U.S. women and girls in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The special Supplement, which includes recommendations for national strategic programmatic improvements to meet their needs, was sponsored by the Office on Women’s Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Additional funding support for the Supplement was provided by the HHS Health Resources and Services Administration and the NIH National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Titled “Bringing Gender Home: Implementing Gender-Responsive HIV/AIDS Programming for U.S. Women and Girls,” the Supplement features commentaries by leaders in the HHS Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Office of AIDS Research and the Office of Research on Women’s Health of the National Institutes of Health, and the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the opening commentary of the Supplement, Guest Editor Anna Forbes discusses the two-day Forum convened in 2010 by the HHS Office on Women’s Health in conjunction with UNAIDS and provides an overview of the detailed recommendations arising from this important meeting. The Supplement includes a matrix of all recommendations the Forum participants devised.

The Supplement also includes nine peer-reviewed invited articles addressing the unique and diverse needs of women and girls with, or at risk for, HIV infection. Among the topics addressed are: gender and racial/ethnic disparities, human rights issues, violence prevention, American Indian and Alaska Native women, criminal justice issues, transgender health considerations, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a call for social action in HIV prevention efforts.

“This issue contains the work of outstanding experts in the field who expand on the priorities raised in the Forum,” noted Guest Editor Anna Forbes. “Thus, it provides us with a real-time, real-world look at the status of the U.S. response to HIV among women and girls and exactly what it will take to move us forward.”

Susan F. Wood, PhD, Director of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, stated, “This Supplement provides depth and breadth to our current understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in women, along with identification of the policies and programs that are needed to address it.”

In her Editor’s Note introducing the Supplement, Women’s Health Issues Editor-in-Chief Anne Rossier Markus, JD, PhD, MHS, wrote, “While much focus over the past decade has been on a U.S. and global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in areas of the world most affected by the disease, particularly Sub-Saharan African, one should not lose sight of the importance of continuing, refining, and reinvigorating our response on the domestic front. Despite great advances in treatment and technology, HIV/AIDS remains one of the leading causes of death and disability among children and women in the U.S., particularly minority women and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. The thoughtful work provided by the Forum participants contributes directly to our understanding of how policy and programmatic resources must be leveraged to best tailor treatment and prevention interventions in ways that reflect sensitivity and understanding of gender, cultural, socioeconomic, and other differences among populations both here in the U.S. and abroad.”

Statement from Dr. Susan Wood Regarding IOM Report that Recommends Eight Additional Women's Health Preventive Services for Coverage

Statement from Susan F. Wood, PhD
Associate Professor of Health Policy
Director, Jacob Institute of Women’s Health
The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
Former Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health, FDA

Women know that preventive services for women includes family planning. Today the IOM confirmed that contraception is prevention and is part of the prevention package that should be covered by all health care plans. By reducing co-pays and deductibles for women getting contraception, this will help women and couples plan their families, space their children, reduce unintended pregnancies, and promote better health for women and children. Preventing unintended pregnancies is the best way to prevent abortion.

Women spend decades of their lives trying to prevent pregnancy, and only a few years actually trying to get pregnant and having children. Making contraception affordable by eliminating co-pays and deductibles is common sense for millions of women and couples across the country – and a real benefit that women will see immediately in their pocketbooks. This coverage of contraception will truly help “Close the Gaps” for women.

Contraception is not controversial – except sometimes for politicians. But this should not be political; coverage of contraception should be based on the evidence as outlined by IOM, which shows that contraception for women is indeed safe and effective prevention. Along with well-woman visits and critical screening for gestational diabetes, STDs, domestic violence, and other important women’s health preventive services, the IOM report “Closing the Gaps” has helped ensure that women’s health counts when we talk about prevention. Women should not be blocked from these critical preventive services due to cost or political debate.

See also the statement of Dr. Wood and Professor Sara Rosenbaum, JD of the GW Department of Health Policy on the Health Affairs Blog:

A ground-breaking Supplement of Women’s Health Issues published in July 2011 shows the tremendous growth and diversity of VA women’s health research in recent years. Women’s Health Issues is the bi-monthly peer-reviewed journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. The journal focuses on applied research in women’s health care and policy issues. The special Supplement was sponsored by the Health Services Research and Development Service, VA Office of Research and Development with support from the Women Veterans Health Strategic Health Care group.

Titled “Health and Health Care of Women Veterans and Women in the Military: Research Informing Evidence-based Practice and Policy,” the Supplement features commentaries by VA investigators examining the role, history, and future of women’s health research. For example, in their opening commentary, Guest Editors Elizabeth M. Yano, Ph.D., and Susan M. Frayne, MD, discuss the heightened focus on health services research, with more articles published between 2004 and 2008—the first four years after VA Office of Research and Development established its women’s health agenda—“than in the previous 25 years combined.” The Supplement also includes 18 peer-reviewed research articles addressing the changing demographics and demands of VA health care presented by the recent surge of women Veterans into the system. Among the topics addressed are: gender differences and disparities in care; mental health, including military sexual trauma and substance abuse; post deployment health, including posttraumatic stress disorder; quality and delivery of care; and special populations, including homeless women Veterans and those with traumatic brain injury.

Susan F. Wood, PhD, Director of the Jacobs Institute, stated, “These papers illustrate both the breadth and depth of the health concerns of women veterans. They also demonstrate the critical role of the research needed to fill the gaps and to address these concerns.”

In her Editor’s Note introducing the Supplement, Women’s Health Issues Editor-in-Chief Anne Rossier Markus, JD, PhD, MHS, wrote, “According to analyses published in this Supplement, today, one in five new recruits is a woman, 15% of active military personnel are women, and women have become the fastest growing group of veterans who are new users of the VA health care system. This shift in the VA user demographics should not be underestimated, because it has important implications for the VA’s ability and capacity to accommodate women’s needs in all aspects of life, whether they are working or retired, suffer from chronic conditions that often are the direct result of their service in theaters of war, or have routine medical needs, all of which require tailored services and programs. The VA, often cited as the U.S. model of a government-funded, government-run health care system, has also made great strides in transforming its ways of delivering care and in investing in monitoring and evaluation, including research that focuses on women’s health.”

Women’s Health Issues Begins Paperless Publishing in 2012

The Editors of Women’s Health Issues, the bimonthly peer-reviewed journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, are pleased to announce that starting with our January/February 2012 issue, we are transitioning to paperless publishing. Full-text online access to all published articles will continue to be available to individual subscribers at our website, http://www.whijournal.com, and to our institutional readers at http://www.sciencedirect.com.

The change to paperless publishing will not affect the peer review process for the journal or the quality of peer-reviewed full-length papers and commentaries published.

The decision to convert to “e-publishing” only was influenced by a number of significant factors we identified in discussions with our Editorial Board and our publisher, Elsevier, Inc.:

An important benefit of paperless publishing is that the cost savings achieved enable us to expand the number of peer-reviewed articles we publish each year – especially important since we have experienced consistent growth in the number of high quality publishable manuscripts submitted to our journal over the last several years. This also represents a “value added” benefit for subscribers inasmuch as they will receive more content for the price of a subscription.

Our publisher, Elsevier, Inc., will contact print-only subscribers to inform them of this change and to provide the options needed to convert to electronic subscriptions. For those organizations interested in sponsoring journal Supplements, we will continue to make available to them the option of having print copies produced for their own use and distribution.

We encourage all of our readers to sign up for new issue e-mail alerts for updates of new content published in the Journal. Please visit http://www.whijournal.com/user/alerts. These alerts will keep you up to date with notices of new issue releases, articles in press, and other useful journal notices.

We thank the members of our Editorial Board who advised and guided us in making this important decision. We are also grateful for the support and guidance of Elsevier, Inc., particularly Andrea M. Boccelli, who provided in-depth information about industry trends and the implications of this decision for our journal. In achieving our mission of “advancing research, policy and practice,” we look forward to continuing to publish the highest quality peer-reviewed health services research and health policy analyses aimed at improving women’s health across the lifespan.

May 26, 2011

The Editorial Board of Women’s Health Issues is pleased to announce that the Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize for the best paper published in Women's Health Issues in 2010 (Volume 20) has been awarded to Diana Greene Foster, PhD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California-San Francisco. She is also the Research Director at ANSIRH (Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health) where she leads studies of contraceptive access and consequences of unintended pregnancy.

Dr. Foster's manuscript, “Should Providers Give Women Advance Provision of Emergency Contraceptive Pills? A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis,” was co-authored with her colleagues at the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy at UCSF, Tina R. Raine, MD, MPH, Claire Brindis, DrPH, Daria P. Rostovtseva, MS, and Philip D. Darney, MD. The manuscript was published in Women's Health Issues Volume 20, Issue 4 (July/August), pages 242-247.

The Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize is awarded annually to recognize excellence in research on women's health care or policy. Priority is given to manuscripts that report the results of original research and that improve understanding of an important women's health issue. Members of the Editorial Board of Women's Health Issues are not eligible. The prize includes a $1,000 award.

There were many strong papers in 2010, and the Board felt that Dr. Foster’s manuscript was exceptional, particularly in its methodology and relevance to understanding an important health services and policy issue in women’s health. Dr. Foster and her colleagues are to be congratulated for their excellent contribution to women's health research.

The Editorial Board also designated two excellent manuscripts to receive "Honorable Mention" awards. They are:

Impact of Patient Adherence and Test Performance on the Cost-Effectiveness of Cervical Cancer Screening in Developing Countries: The Case of Honduras, written by Rebecca B. Perkins, MD, MS, Sarah M. Langrish, NP, Linda J. Stern, MPH, James F. Burgess, PhD, and Carol J. Simon, PhD. Published in Volume 20, Issue 1 (January/February 2010), pages 35-42.
Older Women in a State-Wide, Evidence-Based Falls Prevention Program: Who Enrolls and What Benefits Are Obtained? written by Matthew Lee Smith, PhD, MPH, CHES, CPP, Marcia G. Ory, PhD, MPH, and Ross Larsen, MS. Published in Volume 20, Issue 6 (November/December 2010), pages 427-434.

Free full-text PDFs of all three of these articles can be downloaded by clicking here.

May 13, 2011

Women's Health Issues

New Supplement Available

Reproductive Health Research the Focus of May/June 2011 Women’s Health Issues Supplement

Special issue showcases the work of social scientists dedicated to abortion research

The Editors of Women’s Health Issues, the peer-reviewed journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health in the Department of Health Policy at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW), are pleased to announce the publication of a new Supplement entitled, Abortion, Reproductive Rights and Health: Highlights from the Charlotte Ellertson Social Science Postdoctoral Fellowship 2003-2010. This May/June 2011 supplement, with support from Ibis Reproductive Health and guided by Guest Editors Wendy Chavkin, MD, MPH, and Jane Williamson, MLS, MS, features the work of an exciting group of social scientists and public health researchers who study abortion and reproductive health and rights.

The authors were part of an innovative postdoctoral program, the Charlotte Ellertson Social Science Postdoctoral Fellowship in Abortion and Reproductive Health, which supported the development of a new generation of researchers dedicated to high quality research on abortion. From 2003-2010, 14 Ellertson Fellows recei

Statement from Dr. Susan Wood Regarding IOM Report that Recommends Eight Additional Women's Health Preventive Services for Coverage

Women’s Health Issues Begins Paperless Publishing in 2012

May 26, 2011