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OWH awarded $1.6 million to launch a new gender-based national initiative to improve the health of women and girls

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office on Women's Health (OWH) launched a new gender-based national initiative entitled the Coalition for a Healthier Community (CHC). It builds upon previous programs developed by OWH: the 48 Multidisciplinary Health Models for Women Sites Throughout the US (1996-2007) and Advancing System Improvements to Support Targets for Healthy People 2010 (ASIST2010) (2007-2010).

OWH, which leads the initiative, has selected 16 organizations throughout various regions of the country to begin the planning phase of the grant. This initiative will encourage collaborative efforts to help improve overall community health policies and gender-based health care programs for women.

For Phase I of this cooperative agreement, a total of $1.6 million dollars was awarded to organizations that use a collaborative approach with existing local coalitions. The selected coalitions were each awarded $100,000 for one year to support the planning of gender-based health interventions targeting women, girls, or both. During this phase, each coalition will work on two activities: to identify the health condition having the most adverse effect on the health and well-being of these populations in their community and to subsequently develop a strategy that will address the health condition.

These awards will help communities determine which chronic health conditions are most prevalent among their female residents, how to address the health needs of this population, and then implement a plan to improve health outcomes," said Frances Ashe-Goins, Acting Director for the Office on Women's Health.

The 16 awardees are as follows: (more detail)

• Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership, Inc. (Manhattan, NY)
• Regents of the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)
• Rockingham Memorial Hospital (Harrisonburg, VA)
• East of the River Action for Substance Abuse Elimination (East Hartford, CT)
• Philadelphia Health and Education Corporation d/b/a Drexel University College (Philadelphia, PA)
• Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA)
• National Kidney Foundation (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Brandywine Counseling & Community Services, Inc. (Wilmington, DE)
• Yale University (New Haven, CT)
• Women's Health Services (Santa Fe, NM)
• Domestic Violence Action Center (Honolulu, HI)
• The Family League of Baltimore City, Inc. (Baltimore, MD)
• St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation (Billings, MT)
• University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)
• The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Chicago, IL)
• Thurston County Public Health & Social Services (Olympia, WA)

About the Office on Women's Health

The Office on Women's Health (OWH) was established in 1991. OWH coordinates the efforts of all the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' agencies and offices involved in women's health. The office works to improve the health and well-being of women and girls in the United States through its programs, by educating health professionals, and motivating behavior change in consumers through the dissemination of health information.

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