Bright Futures for Women’s Health and Wellness

Mission and Goals

The Bright Futures for Women’s Health and Wellness Initiative (BFWHW) is a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) program designed to encourage better health among women across their lifespan.  Its mission is to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate a variety of evidence-based, culturally competent consumer, healthcare provider, and community products that will increase women’s awareness and use of preventive health services. A non-Federal steering committee of women’s health experts from across the nation provides overall guidance on processes and products of this initiative. BFWHW materials incorporate a wellness focus into messages and themes. Target audiences include adolescent females and adult women, particularly underserved and minority women, as well as community groups and primary health care clinicians.  The goals of BFWHW include:

• Increasing women’s use of preventive services
  
• Empowering women to share in health care decision-making
  
• Encouraging women to practice prevention in their daily lives
  
• Increasing practitioner utilization of preventive health guidelines
  
• Supporting communitywide health promotion

Activities

The development of an organizational and conceptual framework for Bright Futures for Women’s Health and Wellness began in 2001 with a review of preventive health guidelines, as well as professional and consumer literature on preventive health topics for women and adolescent girls. BFWHW tools currently address three preventive health domains: Physical Activity & Healthy Eating; Emotional Wellness; and Maternal Wellness, and include guides, tip sheets, posters, toolkits, and other materials.  Some materials are available in Spanish.  Also, materials are planned for rural young and adult women.  Materials are continuously being added to the BFWHW family of tools.

Who’s Involved

BFWHW product development is guided by a Federal executive management committee chaired by Peter C. van Dyck, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Administrator for Maternal and Child Health, HRSA, and a non-Federal steering committee representing multiple disciplines, professional and consumer voices, and geographic and cultural diversity.

Resources

The HRSA Women’s Health Web site, www.hrsa.gov/womenshealth, is a gateway to information about projects in the Office of Women’s Health.

The HRSA Information Center offers a wealth of women’s health-related publications and resources. To see a complete list of offerings, visit www.ask.hrsa.gov or call toll-free, (888) ASK HRSA (275-4772).