A vital collection of essays on women's health and women's health studies, edited by leaders in the field.

Originally published in 1985, this collection of essays expands the understanding of both health itself and the ways in which women may experience their roles as consumers and providers of health care. The authors represent a number of disciplines – anthropology, sociology and political science – and examine issues of public concern on both sides of the Atlantic. Many important health questions are discussed, including the increasing use of high technology methods on obstetrical care, HRT, the treatment of frail elderly women, occupational health, health issues of sport and fitness, and health care systems of the UK, US and Canada as they relate to women in various social circumstances.

Factors influencing women's health care -- Sex and gender differences -- Menstrual and ovarian conditions -- Contrceptive methods -- Pregnancy health care -- Select conditions and disorders over the lifespan -- Select infectious diseases -- Cancer in women.

A Public Health Perspective of Women’s Mental Health Edited by Bruce Lubotsky Levin and Marion Ann Becker As many as one-half of all women in the U.S. will experience some form of mental illness in their lives—an especially distressing fact when health care budgets are in flux, adding to existing disparities and unmet health needs. Written from a unique multidisciplinary framework, A Public Health Perspective of Women’s Mental Health addresses today’s most pressing mental health challenges: effective treatment, efficient prevention, equal access, improved service delivery, and stronger public policy. Eminent clinicians, researchers, academicians, and advocates examine the effects of mental illness on women’s lives and discuss the scope of clinical and service delivery issues affecting women, focusing on these major areas: Epidemiology of mental disorders in girls, female adolescents, adult women, and older women. Selected disorders of particular concern to women, including depression and postpartum depression, eating disorders, menopause, chemical dependence, and HIV/AIDS. Mental health needs of women in the workplace, rural areas, and prisons. Racial and ethnic disparities and their impact on service delivery. Parenting and recovery issues in mothers with mental illness. Women’s mental health services in an era of evidence-based medicine. Improving women’s health in today’s technological climate. A Public Health Perspective of Women’s Mental Health is a resource of immediate importance to professionals and graduate students in the public health, health administration, health disparities, social work, behavioral health, and health services research fields, as well as nursing, community/health psychology and community/public psychiatry.

"While this book's focus is on integrating training after contraception and abortion become legal, many, if not all of the systems and approaches described in this book are equally applicable in countries where abortion is illegal or access to abortion and contraception is limited. Our educational concepts and approaches may seem too complex, expensive or impractical for resource-poor countries where family planning services, no matter how poorly delivered, are judged adequate or are so controversial that ignoring them is the safest course. In fact, this attitude perpetuates the status quo, prevents progress or leads to a deterioration of health care. In the context of family planning, this view is particularly detrimental. It reinforces the perception that family planning and reproductive health have little status or value in health care delivery, and therefore in medical education. Ensuring a properly informed, motivated, and caring workforce to drive research and policy must be the aim of every country. Education of that workforce is paramount for promoting health in general and reproductive health in particular. While legalization of abortion is an essential element in promoting women's and public health, the advocates for reform and those responsible for implementation often do not consider the essential link: the systemic education of all involved in providing the care, for which we hope this book will offer inspiration and guidance"--

The number of women practicing medicine in the United States has grown steadily since the late 1960s, with women now roughly at parity with men among entering medical students. Why did so many women enter American medicine? How are women faring, professionally and personally, once they become physicians? Are women transforming the way medicine is practiced? To answer these questions, The Changing Face of Medicine draws on a wide array of sources, including interviews with women physicians and surveys of medical students and practitioners. The analysis is set in the twin contexts of a rapidly evolving medical system and profound shifts in gender roles in American society. Throughout the book, Ann K. Boulis and Jerry A. Jacobs critically examine common assumptions about women in medicine. For example, they find that women's entry into medicine has less to do with the decline in status of the profession and more to do with changes in women's roles in contemporary society. Women physicians' families are becoming more and more like those of other working women. Still, disparities in terms of specialty, practice ownership, academic rank, and leadership roles endure, and barriers to opportunity persist. Along the way, Boulis and Jacobs address a host of issues, among them dual-physician marriages, specialty choice, time spent with patients, altruism versus materialism, and how physicians combine work and family. Women's presence in American medicine will continue to grow beyond the 50 percent mark, but the authors question whether this change by itself will make American medicine more caring and more patient centered. The future direction of the profession will depend on whether women doctors will lead the effort to chart a new course for health care delivery in the United States.