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Women's Health Projects
Evaluation of the BodyWorks Toolkit
HSR is undertaking an evaluation of the BodyWorks Toolkit for the Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health. BodyWorks is an obesity prevention program developed to help parents and caregivers of adolescent girls improve family eating and exercise habits. HSR will assess both the program impacts and its train-the-trainer implementation method.
Evaluation of the Bright Futures Women's Health and Wellness (BFWHW)
In collaboration with the BFWHW staff, Steering Committee, and Executive Management Committee, HSR planned and conducted an evaluation for the Human Resources and Services Administration's Office of Women's Health. The evaluation assessed the initiative's pilot tools for physical activity and healthy eating. In support of the evaluation, HSR successfully provided data collection training, support, and monitoring to selected evaluation sites, and our findings shaped revisions to the pilot materials and identified options for outcome evaluation efforts. Subsequently, HSR received the contract to conduct the intermediate outcome evaluation of the BFWHW physical activity and healthy eating initiative in several diverse clinical and community settings across the country. Results will be presented in a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Evaluation of the National Women's Health Week (NWHW)
NWHW is a national effort that aims to channel simple, practical health messages to a broad audience of women through a range of local media, public events, and creative networks during the course of 1 week each year in May. In an evaluation conducted for the Department of Health and Human Service's Office on Women's Health (OWH), HSR will assess the 2006 NWHW using a combination of informant interviews, participant surveys, and focus groups. The goal of the evaluation is to establish baseline data for future evaluations and to assess implementation strategies, organizational and group participation motives, and event impacts, which will help OWH to assess the implementation and outcomes of this initiative.
Evaluation to Determine the Effectiveness of the Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS)
In a study conducted for the Agency for Children and Families, HSR is analyzing the effectiveness of the PARIS project, a program designed to match Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Food Stamp participation data across participating States to identify and reduce duplicate participation. Program participation data are matched with Federal employment records and records from the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to reduce duplicate improper payments made to ineligible participants. In addition, HSR will provide technical assistance to new States joining the PARIS project in Fiscal Year 2007.
Clinical Specialty Training in Title X Family Planning Clinics
For the DHHS Office of Family Planning (OFP), HSR is conducting an assessment of the current and future needs related to clinical training for health care practitioners working in Title X family planning clinics. HSR's activities in this project include a literature review, facilitating a key informant workgroup, and conducting interviews with training programs. The findings of the assessment will support OFP in determining the future direction for training of clinical service providers to improve accessibility and content of family planning training.
Women's Health USA
Since 2002, HSR has produced the annual report sponsored by HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau and Office of Women's Health on the health status of America's women. The report presents key facts and figures to profile the health of women throughout the Nation and provides easy-to-use statistical information for use by policymakers, legislators, and consumers. The Chartbook is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/ womenshealth/databook.htm.
Evaluation of the Bright Futures for Women's Health and Wellness Initiative
For the Health Resources and Services Administration's Office of Women's Health, HSR conducted a multitiered evaluation of the pilot tools developed under the Bright Futures for Women's Health and Wellness Initiative for promoting nutrition and physical activity for women in four age groups: adolescents, young adults, women in midlife, and older women. The evaluation findings are being used to guide the final design of the health promotion materials, as well as to provide feedback on strategies for dissemination, training, and application of the tools.
Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Surgeon General's Report
HSR was commissioned by the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) to help produce, write, edit, and design Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Surgeon General's Report that was released in October 2004. This report is the culmination of ongoing collaboration between the OSG and 16 other Federal agencies on issues related to bone health and aging. An important component of this project was the development of materials for disseminating recommendations about bone health to postmenopausal women, minorities, teen girls, and others. A companion piece to the full report developed for consumers has been very well received by the public and has been honored as a Distinguished Technical Communication by the Society for Technical Communication.
HIV Prevention Activities in Title X Family Planning Clinics
Through a contract with the DHHS Office of Family Planning, HSR worked with Title X family planning program advisors, staff, and clients to examine the incorporation of HIV prevention in family planning settings. Since the clientele of Title X clinics tend to be women from medically underserved populations, HSR's effort has helped to guide and support the development and use of culturally appropriate and effective HIV prevention, education, treatment, and referral services. Building on this work, HSR was awarded in FY2004 a new project assessing the use of couples-based programming in Title X clinics.
Survey of Medicaid Reproductive Health Services
With funding from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, HSR conducted a 50-State survey of Medicaid policies related to reproductive health services. This project explored coverage of family planning and perinatal services under Medicaid and States' use of Medicaid waivers related to delivery of family planning services.
Design of a Treatment Program for Pregnant Women with Co-occurring Disorders
As part of a broad technical assistance (TA) contract with the Federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), HSR is providing TA to the State of Arizona and one of its providers, Community Bridges, to assist with the design, implementation, and evaluation of a treatment program for pregnant women who have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. HSR has advised Community Bridges staff on best practice programs for women and has developed a program model, curricula recommendations, and an evaluation plan. The new program, Center for Hope, opened on October 1, 2004. Community Bridges, the State of Arizona, and CSAT have expressed their appreciation for HSR's ability to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to accomplish the project's many objectives in a short period of time.
Public Awareness Campaign on Caregiving and Support for the National Family Caregiver Support Program
HSR is providing technical, administrative, and logistical support to the DHHS Administration on Aging's National Family Caregiver Support Program. The project was designed to educate and inform the public about the supports and community-based resources available to caregivers, most of whom are women. Under this project, HSR has made important contributions to the development of fact sheets, articles, proclamations, and other media materials about aging and care giving issues across the country.
Women's Mental Health
HSR is supporting a Department of Health and Human Services interagency collaborative involving the Office on Women's Health, the Office of the Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop a supplement to the Surgeon General's 1999 report on mental health that will describe women's mental health issues across the lifespan and outline differences between women and men with respect to specific mental health disorders. HSR's activities in this project will include focused interviews with key public- and private-sector leaders, a literature review, planning and management of a Surgeon General's workshop, development of a set of communiqués, and production of a toolkit.
Assessment of Women's Health Needs
For the States of Idaho and Pennsylvania, HSR is conducting comprehensive statewide assessments of the needs of reproductive-age women as well as the capacity of the State systems to address them. These assessments, which are required by the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant and which also examine children's needs, include, examining secondary data sources, collecting primary data and developing recommendations for the States' ongoing assessment of need and capacity.
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