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Women's Health

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Women have unique health needs, and face inequity in both quality and outcomes of health care. RAND's work has highlighted gender gaps in health care access and quality, measured the health needs of specific female populations, evaluated programs aimed at improving outcomes, and demonstrated how policy impacts women's options.

Commentary
Countering Abortion Misinformation in the Post-Roe Environment
Misinformation could become a major barrier to individuals trying to find safe, legal, and quality reproductive care. How might states, health insurers, and technology companies address this problem?
Jul 6, 2022
Commentary
Doubling NIH Funding for Women's Health Would Yield Substantial Return on Investment
The scientific evidence base generally is biased toward the male body as a result of a long history of generous funding for diseases that predominantly affect men and underfunding for those that predominantly affect women. But the cost of the science pales in comparison to the price we continue to pay for what we don't know about caring for women.
Jul 8, 2022

Explore Women's Health

Journal Article
Use of Imaging and Biomarker Tests for Posttreatment Care of Early-Stage Breast Cancer Survivors
Use of nonrecommended services for surveillance occurs frequently among early-stage breast cancer survivors.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Validity of Race, Ethnicity, and National Origin in Population-Based Cancer Registries and Rapid Case Ascertainment Enhanced with a Spanish Surname List
Accurate information regarding race, ethnicity, and national origins is critical for identifying disparities in the cancer burden.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
What Is the Price of Prevention? New Evidence from a Field Experiment
Policies to increase preventive testing in developing countries should include subsidies towards treatment costs.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Effect of Chiranjeevi Yojana on Institutional Deliveries and Neonatal and Maternal Outcomes in Gujarat, India: A Difference-In-Differences Analysis
In an observational study using a difference-in-differences design, the relationship between the Chiranjeevi Yojana programme and the probability of delivery in health-care institutions, the probability of obstetric complications and mean household expenditure for deliveries was subsequently examined.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Women's Expectations of Prolapse Surgery: A Retrospective Qualitative Study
The authors explore the expectations of prolapse surgery held by women before that surgery and to examine reasons why such expectations were met, or not met.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Landmark Risk Prediction of Residual Life for Breast Cancer Survival
The importance of developing personalized risk prediction estimates has become increasingly evident in recent years.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Fertility Desires and Intentions and the Relationship to Consistent Condom Use and Provider Communication Regarding Childbearing Among HIV Clients in Uganda
We examined the correlates of fertility desires and intentions among 767 HIV clients (34% male) starting antiretrovirals in Uganda.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Understanding Pregnancy-Related Attitudes and Behaviors: A Mixed-Methods Study Homeless Youth
Effective and accessible pregnancy prevention and family planning programs for homeless youth are needed.
Dec 1, 2012
Journal Article
Temporal Ordering of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome and Non-Bladder Conditions
The authors examine the prevalence and timing of nonbladder conditions in a community cohort of women with symptoms of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS).
Dec 1, 2012
Journal Article
Are Sexual Assault and Disease Prevention Programs Considering the Full Range of Young Women's Sexual Goals?
Programming is often based on the assumption that young women only care about risk reduction when making decisions about sexual encounters. However, their most important goals are communicating clearly and avoiding unwanted sex.
Dec 1, 2012
Report
Financial Sustainability for Nonprofit Organizations: A Review of the Literature
Surveys the literature on financial sustainability for nonprofit organizations, with an emphasis on urban and lower-resourced organizations, and discusses key themes and findings that may inform such organizations' operations and decisionmaking.
Nov 30, 2012
Journal Article
Prenatal, Perinatal, Early Life, and Sociodemographic Factors Underlying Racial Differences in the Likelihood of High Body Index in Early Childhood
Racial disparities in early childhood high BMI were largely explained by potentially modifiable risk and protective factors.
Oct 16, 2012
Commentary
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
News Release
Current and Former First Ladies Gather at RAND Forum in New York to Expand Leadership on Women's Issues
The RAND African First Ladies Fellowship aims to help first ladies and their staffs develop skills for managing an effective first lady's office and learn practical policy-analysis techniques. Over a two-year period, first ladies and fellows will develop and implement a plan to address one of their nation's top challenges, such as maternal and child health, women's issues or education.
Sep 26, 2012
Commentary
Supporting Comprehensive Healthcare 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
Journal Article
How Long After a Miscarriage Should Women Wait Before Becoming Pregnant Again?
Research in Matlab, Bangladesh, reveals that the shorter the interpregnancy interval (IPI) following a miscarriage, the more likely the subsequent pregnancy is to result in a live birth. However, very short IPIs are associated with a higher risk of mortality for the infants born after them.
Aug 20, 2012
Journal Article
Comprehensive Healthcare: Why Is the Inclusion of Reproductive Health Controversial for Women but Not Men?
Comprehensive care for women that broadly includes reproductive care is not yet the standard of care, despite recognition of the gaps and the many consequences for women's health.
Jul 1, 2012
Report
Closing the Gap Between Supply and Demand for Nurse Practitioners Providing Sexual and Reproductive Health Services
Inadequate numbers of Nurse Practitioners (NPs) trained in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and expanding health insurance coverage from health care reform will create a gap in NPs to meet SRH needs. Policy options that could help close this gap are examined.
Jun 29, 2012
Report
The Appropriateness of Recommendations for Hysterectomy
The authors assessed the appropriateness of recommendations for hysterectomies done for nonemergency and nononcologic indications for 497 California women. Seventy percent of the hysterectomies were judged to have been recommended inappropriately.
Jun 19, 2012
Commentary
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

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Chloe E. Bird

Adjunct Sociologist

Chloe E. Bird (she/her), an adjunct sociologist at the RAND Corporation and professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School studies women's health and determinants of sex/gender differences in health and health care. Bird has served as senior advisor in the National Institutes of…
Regina A. Shih

Senior Policy Researcher

Regina Shih (she/her) is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation with over 15 years of research experience on the intersection between environmental health and behavioral health. She coleads the California Neighborhoods Count study, a survey sponsored by the State of California that…

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