Women’s Health community

Community Leaders Advocate for Health Needs of Women and Girls

hen public attention turns to women’s health, the focus is typically on reproductive health or breast cancer. While these are certainly important concerns, the health of women is also affected by a broader set of issues that affects women of varying ages, income levels and ethnicities.

When The Women’s Foundation, based in San Francisco, surveyed women and girls across the state in 1997, it learned that access to health care is of top concern to women, followed closely by workplace issues that affect their health. The survey was conducted by The Field Institute and included a poll of 1,000 women, as well as 13 focus groups and 125 in-depth interviews with girls, African-Americans, Native Americans, monolingual Spanish speakers and monolingual Asians and Pacific Islanders.

The research was used to kick off The Women’s Foundation’s $5 million Initiatives Forum, created to mobilize California’s women and girls around the issues most important to their lives.

TCWF helped fund the survey with a $10,000 grant and followed up with a $100,000 grant to The Women’s Foundation in March of 2000 to publicize the data and to make smaller grants to community organizations that address women’s health issues.

“Given our size and our 22 years of experience using the gender perspective, we’ve been able to recognize that a gap exists between grassroots activists and local and state policymakers,” said Patricia Chang, executive director of The Women’s Foundation.

“Much funding comes through local governments, and many women feel alienated even from their own local policymakers and from how decisions are made.”

To help close that gap, The Women’s Foundation held regional forums throughout the state that brought together community-based organizations, policymakers, legislative aides and other concerned citizens to discuss the issues raised by the survey.

“The forums allowed people to bring different ideas to the table, learn from each other and begin to collaborate on issues they have been working on,” said Vanessa Peck, program assistant at The Women’s Foundation.

The Women’s Foundation also published a report card this past February on “The Health Status of Women and Girls in California” as part of the Initiatives Forum. The publication makes several policy recommendations, including expanding health coverage for unemployed and working adults, expanding the Healthy Families program and eventually implementing universal coverage. The report also enlists support from regulatory agencies and employers to enforce existing laws and promote female workers’ health through corporate policies.

Advocacy organizations statewide are already using the survey data and the report card to educate policymakers about pressing women’s health needs. The Women’s Foundation is also making grants to community-level activist organizations in the Central Valley and Peninsula regions to advocate for women’s health issues.

“Grassroots organizations often do not have the time, resources, skills or opportunities to make contacts with policymakers,” said Chang. “Through our efforts, we’re helping women and girls get their messages heard.”

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