Underfunding of Research in Women's Health Issues Is the Biggest Missed Opportunity in Health Care
For far too long, the medical sciences have treated men and women as interchangeable subjects, favoring men's health for funding and the male body for study. This approach creates a problem, not just for women but for everyone. Not only does it miss a large and critical slice of the population, it leaves an unknown amount of science unexplored.
Feb 11, 2022 Fortune
Mothers Need a Continuous System of Care Even After Babies Are Born
In the United States, babies are born into a system of well-child care—a series of planned health care visits designed to protect their health from day one through age six. But no such system exists for their mothers. How do we create a system of health care for mothers that mirrors well-child care?
May 10, 2021 Newsweek
Out of the Ashes: Forging the Post-Pandemic U.S. Health System
With shifting insights, new problems, and exacerbation of old problems revealed by the pandemic, innovative solutions in the U.S. health system are being adopted where rapid change would normally have been rare. There is both an opportunity and a responsibility to assess how these changes are working and where they can improve health, reduce inequity, and save money.
Jul 31, 2020 The RAND Blog
Your Gift to Health Care Providers, Yourself, and Your Family
A whispered secret in medicine is that resuscitative efforts do not typically save a life. In anticipation of the pandemic surge, hospitals are discussing blanket do-not-resuscitate orders for patients dying from the coronavirus. It is time to publicly and privately discuss the limits of cardiopulmonary resuscitation so patients stricken with COVID-19 can make informed end-of-life decisions and make those decisions known to their closest relatives.
Apr 30, 2020 Council on Contemporary Families
Women and COVID-19: Studying the Impact of Sex and Gender
Much of current medical evidence is based largely on men. The current COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to examine the potential value of asking questions about sex and gender differences to inform ongoing policy decisions.
Apr 13, 2020 The RAND Blog
Policy Barriers to Best Practices: The Impact of Restrictive State Regulations on Access to Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives
Long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods of birth control, which include the intrauterine device and subdermal implant, are highly effective, very safe, preferable to women, and cost effective. But some states' contraceptive policies create direct and indirect barriers to LARC use.
Nov 6, 2015 Women's Health Issues
UK and Europe Are Behind the Times for Single Mothers and Their Children
Single parents head 10.4 percent of households with children across Europe — 20.4 percent in the UK — and the socioeconomic gap between single- and two-parent households continues to grow. Accessible and flexible work policies are needed to improve employment conditions for single parents, especially mothers.
Mar 11, 2015 The RAND Blog
Should You Get Screened for Heart Disease?
Many think of cardiovascular disease (CVD) primarily as a male problem. But one in three adult women has some form of CVD, which has killed more American women than men every year since 1984. Cardiovascular risk assessments can help women understand their current risk and health behaviors.
Jul 24, 2014 Sister to Sister
I'm Too Busy for Exercise I Just Don't Have the Time
As hard as it can be to make time for exercise, failing to do so isn't a time-saver. It might seem so for a day or two, but you will feel the result of not exercising in the reductions in your energy, ability to focus and cope, and in your quality of sleep.
Jul 17, 2014 Sister to Sister
Take the Morality Out of Health Choices: Stop the Blame Game
Framing positive health behaviors as good or virtuous and less effective or harmful ones as bad trips most people up on a regular basis. People would do well to think of positive health behaviors—such as getting a good night's sleep or eating healthy foods—as doing what works, rather than as being virtuous.
Jul 10, 2014 Sister to Sister
Improving Your Health: Small Steps Can Yield Big Benefits
It is worth making changes in your everyday choices and actions in order to improve your health. Real benefits in terms of increases in energy, improved sleep, and reduced cardiovascular disease risk are attainable.
Jul 2, 2014 Sister to Sister
Have You Estimated Your Cardiovascular Risk?
Research suggests that setting a baseline by getting an estimate of your individual cardiovascular risk can help you see more clearly what you have at stake and what you can do to improve your chances of a long and healthy life.
Jun 26, 2014 Sister to Sister
5 Steps to Decrease Your Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Five steps could help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, especially if you track your efforts: know your risk, increase physical activity, reduce sedentary time, improve nutrition, and get enough sleep.
Jun 11, 2014 Sister to Sister
Assessing and Addressing Women's Health and Health Care
Women make up a majority of the U.S. population. Yet research policies and practices often treat women's health and health care as special topics or minority issues. The resulting knowledge gaps hamstring efforts to improve women's health care and outcomes even for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among women.
Mar 28, 2014 The RAND Blog
Caring for Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes, Why Gender Matters
High-quality routine care for both cardiovascular disease and diabetes is at least as relevant to women's health and survival as it is to men's. Yet evidence suggests that women continue to face gaps in even low-cost, routine aspects of care.
Feb 27, 2014 Girl with Pen, Bedside Manners blog
Can Catholic Colleges Block Free Condom Distribution?
If this issue were to be decided on the basis of public health benefits, the outcome would be clear: Condoms indisputably prevent both unintended pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, writes Chloe Bird.
Apr 23, 2013 Ms. Magazine
Making Heart Disease a Women's Issue
When it comes to women's health, cancer gets a good deal of the attention; somehow, it hasn’t fully registered that so many of our mothers, sisters, friends and daughters are being affected by another, often silent killer, writes Chloe E. Bird.
Mar 22, 2013 Ms. Magazine
California Improves on Affordable Care Act by Letting RNs Dispense Birth Control
As we look for ways to provide efficient, high-quality and cost-effective healthcare to more Americans, states may study California as a potential model for how to do more to deliver on what the Affordable Care Act has to offer women, while saving money at the same time, writes Chloe Bird.
Oct 9, 2012 Ms. Magazine
Can Improving the Options Improve Our Choices and Outcomes?
Much of the talk has focused on how New York City's ban on sugary drinks, intended to curb obesity by improving dietary choices for consumers, will restrict individuals’ options. Of course, even after the ban, consumers can still buy a second soda. But they might want to take a moment to think about the consequences before doing so, writes Chloe Bird.
Sep 18, 2012 The RAND Blog
Supporting Comprehensive Health Care for Women Makes Dollars, and Sense
As we look for ways to provide efficient, high-quality, and cost-effective health care to more Americans, we can't afford to ignore women's health issues, including reproductive health care and the cost savings that contraceptive access provides, writes Chloe Bird.
Sep 5, 2012 The RAND Blog
Bedside Manners: Obesity Is Not All Your Fault
We will be more successful at stemming the growing tide of obesity and improving our own health if everyone accepts their share of responsibility for the obesity epidemic, write Chloe E. Bird and Tamara Dubowitz.
Jul 26, 2012 Girl with Pen, Bedside Manners blog
Celebrating Birth Control on Mother's Day? Not as Counterintuitive as It Sounds
Reliable birth control contributed to economic development by reducing women's risk of dropping out of school associated with early childbearing and high fertility rates, contributing in turn to increases in women's labor force participation, the continuity of their careers, and the standard of living of women, children and families, writes Chloe Bird.
May 11, 2012 Ms. Magazine
