title: Where we are today: prioritizing women's health services and health policy. A report by the Women's Health Expert Panel of the American Academy of Nursing.
abstract: There has been a recent resurgence of interest in women's health as evidenced by several federal and international policy-shaping reports that will impact women's health services. These reports include the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the formation of the National Prevention Council and Strategy, the 2011 IOM report on clinical preventives services for women, and the World Health Organization strategic plan for 2010-2015. In this paper, we summarize and discuss these reports and discuss implications of enacting the suggested health policies. We highlight policy strategies and recommendations that will extend national and global recommendations to improve women's health and wellness across the lifespan and emphasize the urgent need for preventive services. We conclude this paper by detailing our broad recommendations for putting prevention into practice illustrated by specific recommendations related to unintended pregnancy prevention and management.
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona College of Nursing, Tucson, AZ, USA. jberg@nursing.arizona.edu
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Nancy Fugate
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Woods
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006285:Health Planning; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008875:Middle Aged; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011247:Pregnancy; D014481:United States; D016387:Women's Health; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*