November 17, 2015
Literature Review on Women’s Health USA 2013.
As previously mentioned, I’ve been pouring over various pieces of literature about health, well-being, and social connectedness. In these first few reviews, I have mainly focused on health and well-being. Social connectedness reviews will come a little later in my overall reviews. The most recent article around health, specifically women’s health, from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is from 2013. It’s called, Women’s Health USA, 2013. If you know of a more recent publication from HRSA on this topic, please let me know. The report that comes from 2003 begins with the line, “Healthy Women Build Healthy Communities.” Ten years later, HRSA is still supporting the concept of raising the health and well-being of women with the added focus on gathering data and information on adverse childhood experiences, Internet use for health information, sexual risk behaviors, and sexual violence. I like that there is new data on the health of Asian women, rural and urban women, and women veterans.
Here are some statistics. Nearly 51% of the U. S. population is female, so it stands to reason that we should be interested in optimal health for women. Non-Hispanic Whites accounted for about 79% of women aged 65 years and older. That demographic is just more than 50% under 18 years of age. Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian female population grew the most—increasing their proportion of the female population by about 30 percent. Hispanics grew from 12.1 to 15.9 percent of the female population and non-Hispanic Asians increased from 3.8 to 4.9 percent. By 2050, non-Hispanic White females are projected to no longer be the majority (46.1 percent) and about one-third of females will be Hispanic (29.9 percent). This country, urban and rural, is growing in its ethnic diversity, which emphasizes the importance of addressing racial and ethnic disparities in the social determinants of health, health status, and the use of health care services. We know that women of color are more likely to live in households with income below the poverty level as compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Women of color are less likely to have health insurance, have regular dental visits, have regular health checks, are less likely to have healthful nutrition habits or access to healthful and fresh foods, and are more likely to experience a variety of chronic diseases. The study found that acquisition of non-formal and formal education increased the health and well-being of this demographic (minority females). The article did not mention marriage as determinant of increased well-being, but single heads of households were more likely to live in poverty.
Of special interest to Extension Family and Consumer Sciences professionals, there are more women and families who are eligible for SNAP-Ed than who participate. About a 15% difference existed until around 2011 when the gap really began to close. It looks like programs like K-State Extension’s Family Nutrition Program (SNAP-ED) are among the reasons more women and families are being reached with sound nutrition education. It will be interesting to see newer data on this topic.
Women still lag behind men in educational attainment. The report shows that women are more likely to be in the health care field and less likely to be in fields like engineering. And women are likely to be paid less than men with similar educational achievements and job duties. I thought it was especially interesting that this HRSA data showed that non-Hispanic, American Indian women are the most likely to live in a rural setting. That is not a surprise especially if most of this demographic is still living on Native reservations. Women veterans are more likely to live in poverty than their male counterparts. Men lead women in illicit drug use. Non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic mixed lead in illicit drug use when the data is disaggregated by race. Females still lead in Life-Expectancy by a 5% lead over males. Hispanic females live the longest.
The report from HRSA on Women’s Health is extensive. The graphs are easy to read. The interpretation is well-written, and I think it's important information for us to know as we set priorities in programming in Extension. Health is one of the Five Grand Challenges. We need healthy women to build healthy communities. Women are an important part of the equation of developing of tomorrow’s leaders. A healthy community is one strong in vitality. We need healthy women for that. Optimal health depends on a safe and secure Global Food System. Abundant water to grow food is important in both rural and urban communities. It is all in the report, Women’s Health USA, 2013.