PMID- 11788105
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20020201
LR  - 20061115
IS  - 1524-6094 (Print)
IS  - 1524-6094 (Linking)
VI  - 10
IP  - 10
DP  - 2001 Dec
TI  - Identifying and caring for underserved populations: experience of the National 
      Centers of Excellence in Women's Health.
PG  - 937-52
AB  - From 1996 through 1998, 18 National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health 
      (CoEs) were designated by the Office on Women's Health (OWH) of the U.S. 
      Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). These CoEs were charged with 
      developing standards for comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and culturally 
      competent approaches to women's health. One specific mandate to the CoEs was to 
      address the needs of underserved women. This paper presents the efforts of the 
      CoE Racial and Ethnic Minority and Underserved Women Working Group to describe 
      the work done within the CoEs to meet this mandate. One method of defining 
      underserved populations is the seven-point definition used in the current "Index 
      for Primary Care Shortage," which categorizes underserved populations based on 
      characteristics including race, ethnicity, geography, and health outcomes. The 
      definition allows the local identification of underserved communities based on 
      this group of variables. The analysis included in this paper focuses specifically 
      on the CoEs' efforts to operationalize this definition in order to meet the 
      clinical care needs of women who are of low socioeconomic status (SES), racial or 
      ethnic minorities, or non-English speaking. A brief review of the literature 
      linking these characteristics to being underserved is provided, followed by 
      examples of ongoing activities at the 15 currently funded CoEs, to understand the 
      needs of diverse women, to improve the quality of care provided to women, and to 
      address healthcare needs of underserved women who meet this definition. Efforts 
      to serve three additional underserved populations defined by age, sexual 
      orientation, and disability status are also presented.
FAU - Weitz, T A
AU  - Weitz TA
AD  - National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, University of California, San 
      Francisco, California 94143-0744, USA.
FAU - Freund, K M
AU  - Freund KM
FAU - Wright, L
AU  - Wright L
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
PL  - United States
TA  - J Womens Health Gend Based Med
JT  - Journal of women's health & gender-based medicine
JID - 100888719
SB  - IM
MH  - Academic Medical Centers/*organization & administration
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Medically Underserved Area
MH  - Minority Groups
MH  - United States
MH  - United States Dept. of Health and Human Services/*organization & administration
MH  - Women's Health Services/*organization & administration
EDAT- 2002/01/15 10:00
MHDA- 2002/02/02 10:01
CRDT- 2002/01/15 10:00
PHST- 2002/01/15 10:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2002/02/02 10:01 [medline]
PHST- 2002/01/15 10:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1089/152460901317193521 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Womens Health Gend Based Med. 2001 Dec;10(10):937-52. doi: 
      10.1089/152460901317193521.