Since 1993, the UMHS Women's Health Program (WHP) has worked to encourage the highest quality health care experience for women through coordinated service, collaborative research, extensive education, community outreach and advocacy. The WHP includes a Women's Health Resource Center, an Abuse Prevention Initiative, and a Women's Health Registry. As a result of these and several other activities, the WHP has been recognized as a National Center of Excellence in Women's Health by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The WHP staff regularly participates in training, community forums, programs, and projects provided by various UMHS and community organizations in order to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate services to patients and their families. In addition, the Women's Health Resource Center (WHRC) works with UMHS Volunteer Services to recruit a diverse staff of volunteers. All WHRC volunteers undergo a thorough training program that enables them to effectively appreciate, understand and better serve the diverse population that they will encounter.
The WHP staff always works to ensure that patients and community members receive health education and information that is understandable and respectful of a patient's cultural beliefs and practices. This health education information, including the Women's Health Newsletter, has been provided to patients and consumers in various languages at no cost to them during hours of operation. With assistance from UMHS's Interpreter Services, the WHRC serves non-English speaking patients by providing information pamphlets in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.
The work of the WHP also demonstrates clear successes in reaching and engaging a diverse set of women and their families in the community. There are currently over 2,200 women enrolled in the Women's Health Registry, whose cultures include African American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, and Asian American. Each month brings a larger number of women and men who attend WHP health seminars and other program activities. These audiences remain diverse in all aspects including race, ethnicity, gender, age, and area of interest.
The information provided by the WHP through health education and outreach efforts has raised the standard of care by making it possible for lay persons in the community to obtain complex health information in a format that is most easily understandable to them. The WHP staff continues to create culturally competent care through these services on an ongoing basis. |
