Jacobs Institute of Women's Health

Who We Are

The Jacobs Institute of Women's Health (JIWH) was founded in 1990 and became part of the SPHHS in 2006. The goal of JIWH is to improve health care for women through research, dialogue, and information dissemination. Its mission is to:

• Identify and study women's health care issues involving the interaction of medical and social systems;
• Facilitate informed dialogue and foster awareness among consumers and providers alike; and
• Promote problem resolution, interdisciplinary coordination and information dissemination at the regional, national and international levels.

JIWH works to continuously improve the health care of women across their lifespan and in all populations. JIWH promotes environments where an interdisciplinary audience, including health care professionals, researchers, policymakers, consumers, and advocates come together to discuss ways to advance women's health. With its new SPHHS affiliation, JIWH also focuses on educational programs to advance women's health policy as a field of study.

At the February 6, 2007 Public Health Grand Rounds, renowned cardiologist Dr. Paula Johnson presented: "Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Bench to Bedside and Beyond."

What We Do

JIWH publishes Women's Health Issues (WHI), a peer-reviewed, bimonthly, multidisciplinary journal that publishes research and review manuscripts related to women's health care and policy. WHI is dedicated to improving the health and health care of all women throughout the lifespan and in diverse communities. The journal seeks to inform health services researchers, health care and public health professionals, social scientists, policymakers, and others concerned with women's health.

Women's Health Issues ranks 2nd in a field of 27 in the category of Women's Studies, according to the 2005 Journal Citation Report®, published by Thomson Scientific.

WHI invites manuscripts reporting the results of original research on topics in women's health care and policy related to diverse health conditions and issues. The Journal is particularly interested in receiving original manuscripts that contribute to our understanding of:

• Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in women's access to services and use of health services;
• Rural women's health and health care patterns;
• Patient and provider factors affecting women's screening and preventive services;
• Women's access to, and use of, health information sources;
• Providers' awareness of gender-based evidence for preventive and treatment practices;
• Organizational, provider, and patient determinants of quality of care for women;
• Agenda-setting and implementation of policies related to women's health and health care; and
• Evaluation of integrated health care programs for women.

JIWH Initiatives

The Jacobs Institute has a long history of innovative and informative multidisciplinary initiatives.

• Expecting Something Better: A Conference to Optimize Maternal Health Care, May 18th and 19th, 2005.
• The Heart Initiative: A two-year project which featured a national conference and Capitol Hill briefing at which recommendations for improving the prevention of heart disease in women were unveiled.
• Health Disparities: Women of color will constitute almost half on all American women by 2050, yet suffer disproportionately from disease and mortality. To address these issues, the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health and The Commonwealth Fund hosted the Margaret E. Mahoney Annual Symposium "Health Disparities Among Women of Color" on Tuesday, April 16, 2002, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
• Managed Care: From 1997 to 2000, the Jacobs Institute embarked on a major project exploring different aspects of the managed care system. The project featured several briefings and conferences.
• Quality of Care: In 2000, the Jacobs Institute convened a conference comparing aspects of women's health care in the United States and United Kingdom

Faculty

• Sara Rosenbaum, JD
  Chair, Department of Health Policy
  Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy
  Interim Executive Director, JIWH
• Anne Rossier Markus, JD, PhD, MHS
  Associate Research Professor
  Editor-in-Chief, Women's Health Issues
• D. Richard Mauery, MS, MPH
  Senior Research Scientist
  Lecturer in Health Policy, Managing Staff Director, JIWH Managing Editor, Women's Health Issues

Contact Us

Jacobs Institute of Women's Health
2021 K St. NW, Suite 800
Department of Health Policy
School of Public Health and Health Services
The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 530-2376
FAX: (202)296-0025
Email: whieditor@gwu.edu
Web site: http://www.jiwh.org

Research Activities

• Gender Differences in Cardiovascular Care Project
• The Health of Incarcerated Women