title: Creating a Better State of Health for Women.
abstract: Women's wellness spans from childhood into adolescence, through the childbearing period, and into older age. It includes not only wellness issues related to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other chronic conditions but also the consequences of intimate partner violence and mental health issues.Throughout the life course, women's health should be a priority. Healthier women lead to healthier babies, which lead to healthier communities. In addition, when women are connected to the health care system, their families are also more likely to be connected. This issue of the North Carolina Medical Journal explores the many aspects of women's health and its many impacts.
authors.affiliation: branch head, Division of Public Health, Women's Health Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, North Carolina belinda.pettiford@dhhs.nc.gov.
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pettiford
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009657:North Carolina; D058996:Quality Improvement; D016387:Women's Health / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards