Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

HHS Activities to Improve Women’s Health As Required by the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act requires various U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' agencies and offices related to women's health to report to Congress every other year on their efforts to improve women's health. These agencies include the HHS Office on Women's Health as well as the Offices of Women's Health within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. This report provides a summary of activities carried out by HHS agencies and offices from January 1, 2019 – Dec. 31, 2020.

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Diaper Need and Health

This report focuses on diaper availability, diaper need, and outcomes associated with health and healthcare access as requested of the Department of Health and Human Services in the report to accompany H.R. 7614 (H.R. Rep. No. 116-450) for Fiscal Year 2021.

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Menstrual Hygiene Product Affordability and Accessibility for U.S. Individuals

This report focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing inflation have profoundly impacted the price and availability of menstrual products, putting the most vulnerable at even greater risk of going without these necessities. The report also highlights research demonstrating the impact of period poverty – or the inability to afford sanitary products – on mental health. Though a full range of menstrual products are available in the United States, cost barriers persist and should be addressed to ensure availability and accessibility of menstrual hygiene products.

Download the report (PDF, 443 KB)

Final Report: Opioid Use, Misuse, and Overdose in Women

This report highlights key background and findings from the earlier white paper, provides a summary of the September 2016 national meeting , and concludes with a section focused on findings and takeaways from both the national and regional meetings.

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HHS Activities to Improve Women’s Health As Required by the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act requires various U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' agencies and offices related to women's health to report to Congress every other year on their efforts to improve women's health. These agencies include the HHS Office on Women's Health as well as the Offices of Women's Health within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. This report covers fiscal year 2017.

Download the report (PDF, 1.6 MB)

White Paper: Opioid Use, Misuse, and Overdose in Women

This white paper explores what is currently known about the opioid epidemic and describes promising practices for addressing opioid use disorder prevention and treatment for women, as well as identifies areas that are less well understood and may warrant further study.

Download the report (PDF, 1.2 MB)

HHS Activities to Improve Women's Health As Required by the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act requires various U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' agencies and offices related to women's health to report to Congress every other year on their efforts to improve women's health. These agencies include the HHS Office on Women's Health as well as the Offices of Women's Health within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. This report covers the period from March 2013 to March 2015.

Download the report (PDF, 1.43 MB)

Women and Girls of Color: Addressing Challenges and Expanding Opportunity

This report from the White House Council on Women and Girls delves into the inequities and distinct challenges facing women of color, while examining some of the efforts underway to close unfair gaps in educational outcomes, pay, career opportunity, health disparities, and more.

Download the report (PDF, 1.18 MB)

1 is 2 Many: Twenty Years Fighting Violence Against Women and Girls

This report opens with a brief summary of how VAWA has helped to change America and discusses the many ways in which VAWA has increased accountability and access to services and has reached underserved communities. The appendix provides details from over 100 programs throughout the country that VAWA has helped to inspire and support.

Download the report (PDF, 1.86 MB)

Office on Women's Health (OWH) Strategic Plan FY2014-FY2016

The OWH Strategic Plan FY 2014-FY 2016 provides an overarching framework to guide OWH's efforts to improve the health and well-being of women and girls.

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Trauma-informed Approaches: Federal Activities and Initiatives

This is the second Working Document Report of the Federal Partners Committee on Women and Trauma, documenting the diverse projects, programs, and initiatives of more than three dozen federal agencies, departments, and offices. This report addresses the growing national interest in this issue, the work of the Federal Partners Committee, and the specific progress that agencies have made over the past three years (2010-2013) since the first report was published. The report also issues a call to action for other governmental and nongovernmental agencies.

View the report.

HIV/AIDS, Violence Against Women and Girls, and Gender-Related Health Disparities

This report outlines five major recommendations and emphasizes the need for cross-agency collaboration to better address how violence against women and girls influences HIV acquisition and negatively affects the health of women living with HIV.

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Report on Activities Related to "Improving Women's Health"

The Affordable Care Act requires various U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' agencies and offices related to women's health to report to Congress each year on their efforts to improve women's health. These agencies include the HHS Office on Women's Health as well as the Offices of Women's Health within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. This report covers the period from March 2011 to March 2013.

Download the report (PDF, 882 KB)

One Department: Overview of HHS Activities on Violence Against Women

Implementing Gender-Responsive HIV/AIDS Programming for U.S. Women and Girls

This report includes strategies to make HIV/AIDS prevention programs more responsive to the needs of women and girls. UNAIDS sponsored international gender experts who presented lessons learned and internationally-developed models of gender-responsive programming that can be adapted for use in the U.S. The final recommendations were aligned with the National HIV/AIDS Strategy goals of reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV, and reducing HIV-related health disparities.

Download the report (PDF, 793 KB)

Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding

The Call to Action describes specific steps people can take to participate in a society-wide approach to support mothers and babies who are breastfeeding.

Download the report (PDF, 931 KB)

One Department: Overview of HHS Activities on Violence Against Women

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) provides the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelter and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their dependents. This report highlights the use of these funds within the Department of Health and Human Services.

Download the report (PDF, 1.9 MB)

The Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health, supports the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls Initiative to respond to the problem of violence against women and girls in the United States. Through this nationwide Initiative, the Regional Offices on Women's Health funded community level projects to conduct activities and events that educate and bring awareness to aspects of violence against women and girls. These Regional OWH project emphasize that violence encompasses intimate partner violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual abuse, stalking, emotional and verbal abuse; as well as teen violence, bullying, human-trafficking, and other forms of trauma or abuse. Violence against women and girls is perpetrated in all types of personal and family relationships and crosses economic, educational, cultural, racial, age, and religious lines.

Download the report (PDF, 388 KB)

Summit for Action: The Health of Women and Girls Beyond 2010

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women's Health (CCWH) embarked on a year-long multi-phase initiative to identify opportunities and strategies to advance the status of the health of women and girls beyond 2010. The process included getting feedback from more than 1,000 key informants including experts from government, academia, health services, consumers, research, and advocacy groups. The culmination of this year-long initiative was a Summit for Action: The Health of Women and Girls Beyond 2010. In 2009, an invitational Summit of 100 national, state, and community leaders were brought together to develop the framework for a nationwide action agenda focused on the health, wellness, and safety of women and girls. This report provides a summary of the Summit discussion and recommendations.

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Sustaining Momentum for Effective Change: Lessons Learned

Federally funded health and human services initiatives represent a substantial investment of scarce resources. However, initiatives that are unsustainable beyond the period of initial funding significantly limit the country's return on this investment and its ability to improve health outcomes. While the long-term viability of initiatives has been widely recognized as integral to their effectiveness over time, there has been a lack of research defining sustainability and guidance for organizations on how to achieve it. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office on Women's Health (OWH) is examining the issue of sustainability through an assessment of the sustainability of its previously funded Multidisciplinary Health Models for Women (MHMW) initiative. To further explore this important issue, OWH convened a forum titled "Sustaining Momentum for Effective Change: Lessons Learned from the Office on Women's Health Programs" in 2009 in Bethesda, MD. The agenda, participant list, and a summary report on the participant's evaluation of the meeting are included in the appendices to this report.

Download the report (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Directory of Residency and Fellowship Programs in Women's Health

In support of interdisciplinary Women's Health training programs, the Journal of Women's Health is pleased to publish the Directory of Interdisciplinary Women's Health Residencies and Fellowships. The Directory was initially developed from a national survey of 1,355 hospitals conducted in September 1995. Information from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, and the American Hospital Association was used to identify institutions approved for Women's Health residency and fellowship programs.

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Office on Women's Health Report to the White House Council on Women and Girls

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. HHS improves the lives of women and girls through the administration of over 300 programs in research, direct clinical service delivery, educational and training programs, disease prevention and health promotion strategies, advocacy, and policy development.

Download the report (PDF, 2.5 MB)

One Department: Overview of HHS Activities on Violence Against Women

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) provides the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelter and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their dependents. This report highlights the use of these funds within the Department of Health and Human Services.

Download the report (PDF, 1.1 MB)

BodyWorks Evaluation Final Report

BodyWorks focuses on helping parents and caregivers teach, facilitate, and support healthy eating and exercise habits for their 8- to 17-year-old daughters and other family members. The program aims to reach individual adolescent girls at home and within the context of their particular cultural, linguistic, social, and physical environments by tapping directly into the parent/caregiver-child link around eating and exercise behaviors.

Download the report (PDF, 3.1 MB); Appendices (PDF, 924 KB)

Office on Women's Health (OWH) Strategic Plan FY2010-FY2015

The OWH Strategic Plan FY 2010-FY 2015 provides an overarching framework to guide OWH's efforts to improve the health and well-being of women and girls.

Download the report (PDF, 926 KB)

Healthy People 2010 – Women's and Men's Health: A Comparison

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health (OWH), commissioned this literature to provide an up-to-date review of women's and men's health.

Download the report (PDF, 2.4 MB); Web page

Defining Sustainability of Federal Programs

This report presents findings of a literature review on sustainability of programs/initiatives as well as the conceptual frameworks, specific assessment methods, tools, and strategies used to increase the likelihood of achieving sustainability.

Download the report (PDF, 1.2 MB); Appendix A (PDF, 2.6 MB), Appendix B (PDF, 1.8 MB)

Supports for Single Parent Caregivers

Providing extended and/or short-term care to an aging or sick parent, sibling, child, a person with a disability, or assisting with the care of a neighbor or friend is a reality for about 50 million Americans. Serving as a caregiver to these individuals can lead to stress, depression, fatigue, lack of exercise, lack of time for family and friends, and sacrificing one's own health. This literature review outlines the programs/supports that exist for single parent caregivers.

Download the report (PDF, 6.4 MB)