Ways to Help Improve Women's Health
Below are several ways you can help improve women’s health through your clinic, practice, community, or organization. Whether you want to take on one project as an individual or several as a group, there’s something for anyone interested in encouraging women to practice prevention to be healthy and safe.
Promote Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment
Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening
CDC provides high-quality screening and diagnostic services to detect breast
and cervical cancer at the earliest stages through the National Breast
and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). The program
helps low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women (ages 40-64 years), gain
access to breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services.
DES Exposure
Research shows that women exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES)
in utero (DES Daughters) were at increased risk of the development of
clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix. CDC's
DES Update has been specifically designed to help health care providers
learn more about DES exposure and its known health effects to facilitate
identifying, managing, and counseling DES-exposed patients.
Gynecologic Cancer
Awareness
Help raise awareness of the five main types of gynecologic cancer: cervical,
ovarian, uterine, vaginal, and vulvar. When gynecologic cancers are found
early, treatment is most effective. Know the central messages of the
campaign, and use the fact sheets to increase awareness.
Sun Protection
Exposure to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays appears to be the most important
environmental factor involved in the development of skin cancer. When used
consistently, sun-protective practices can prevent skin cancer. People with
certain risk factors are more likely than others to develop skin cancer.
Take Continuing Education Courses
Women's Health
Continuing Education for Health Professionals
View a listing of selected CDC continuing education programs related
to women’s health and other topics.
Start a Needed Program in Your Community
A Family Lifestyle Approach to Diabetes Prevention (Power to Prevent)
This program is designed to encourage African Americans at increased risk
for type 2 diabetes to become more physically active and to eat healthier
foods to prevent or delay the disease.
Assuring
Healthy Caregivers- A Public Health Approach to Translating Research into
Practice: The RE-AIM Framework
Those concerned with caregivers and their
family and friends can use this
framework in their work on caregiving. It suggests additional resources for those
interested in pursuing the use of RE-AIM for caregiver support programs and
policies.
Preventing
Falls: How to Develop Community-Based Fall Prevention Programs for
Older Adults
This “how-to” guide is designed for community-based organizations
who are interested in developing their own effective fall prevention programs.
This guide is designed to be a practical and useful tool, and it provides
guidelines on program planning, development, implementation, and evaluation.
See also Preventing
Falls: What Works- A CDC Compendium of Effective Community-Based Interventions
from around the World.
WISEWOMAN
Well–Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation
(WISEWOMAN) provides low-income, under- or uninsured 40- to 64-year-old
women with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to improve diet, physical
activity, and other lifestyle behaviors to prevent, delay, and control cardiovascular
and other chronic diseases. The interventions
may vary from program to program, but all are designed to promote lasting,
healthy lifestyle changes. See also
Wise
Interventions.
Use Resources
Women's Health Podcasts
Take one to six minutes to listen to a podcast to learn more about issues impacting women's
health and safety, including cancer, reproductive health, sexually
transmitted infections, and violence. See also
CDC Podcasts.
Women's Health Professional
Resources
View a variety of resources for health professionals, including campaigns,
continuing education, slidesets, videos, and more.
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Success
Rates Report
The goal of this report is to help
potential ART users make informed decisions about ART by providing some of
the information needed to answer the following questions: What are my
chances of having a child by using ART? Where can I go to get this
treatment?
Bleeding Disorders in
Women
The most common bleeding disorder is von Willebrand
disease (VWD). VWD results from a deficiency or defect in the body's ability
to make von Willebrand factor, a protein that helps blood clot. Although VWD
occurs in men and women equally, women are more likely to notice the
symptoms because of heavy or abnormal bleeding during their menstrual
periods and after childbirth. Certain women should be tested.
Breastfeeding
Newborn infant Crib Cards can be used by hospitals for recording
a newborn’s vital information. It can also help parents be better informed about breastfeeding
and help make this important infant feeding decision at the pertinent time.
Intimate
Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Victimization Assessment Instruments
for Use in Healthcare Settings
This publication includes a comprehensive inventory of assessment tools
that will help practitioners identify victims of intimate partner violence
and sexual violence victimization in clinical/healthcare settings and make
appropriate referrals for additional services.
Prenatal Testing for HIV Infection
The One Test. Two
Lives. campaign focuses on ensuring that all women are tested for HIV
early in their pregnancy. One Test. Two Lives. provides quick
access to a variety of resources for providers and patients to help encourage universal voluntary prenatal testing for HIV.
Sexually Transmitted
Disease Treatment Guidelines
Keep up with the latest guidelines on the treatment of sexually transmitted
diseases. These guidelines were developed by CDC after consultation with a
group of professionals knowledgeable in the field of STDs. The guidelines are
updated periodically.
Be a Role Model
Be
Physically Active
Participating in moderate-intensity or vigorous-intensity physical activity
on a regular basis can lower an individual's risk of developing coronary
heart disease, stroke, non-insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes mellitus,
high blood pressure, and colon cancer by 30–50%. Also,
active people have lower premature death rates than people who are the
least active. CDC recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of moderately
intense physical activity most days of the week.
Eat Healthy
Health professionals recognize the benefits associated with a healthful
eating plan based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including decreased risk of overweight and obesity;
decreased risk of micronutrient deficiencies; and decreased risk of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension,
and certain cancers.
Be
Smoke-Free
People who stop smoking greatly reduce their risk for many chronic diseases
and for dying prematurely. Make this the year you quit smoking for good.
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Page last modified: July 22, 2008
Page last reviewed: May 12, 2008