Women's Health
Vision
The Office of Women’s Health (OWH) envisions quality health and health care for all women in the State of Georgia, including access to health care and health care coverage.
Mission
The OWH promotes and leads efforts to improve the health status and quality of life of women through education, research, policy development and coordination of women’s health programming. The OWH serves as a voice and focal point for addressing the health issues of all women in Georgia.
Goals
- Raise awareness of women’s nonreproductive health issues;
- Inform and engage in prevention and education activities relating to women’s nonreproductive health issues;
- Serve as a clearinghouse for women’s health information for purposes of planning and coordination;
- Issue reports of the office’s activities and findings; and
- Develop and distribute a state comprehensive plan to address women’s health issues.
Functions
The office has six functional areas:
- Leadership
- Create a state comprehensive plan to address women’s health issues.
- Develop key initiatives to address the health needs of women of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic and education levels.
- Serve as a clearinghouse for women’s health information.
- Public and professional education, with a major focus on health promotion and disease prevention
- Develop and support programs that educate women about health behaviors that affect their health status.
- Initiate major public awareness programs to bring important health promotion messages to women.
- Develop and support projects that address women’s health disparities.
- Produce educational publications for the public.
- Develop a Women’s Health Information Center for consumers, professionals and the scientific community
- Partnership building with public and private sectors
- Develop and maintain external relationships with those whose interests are in women’s health.
- Develop communication mechanisms for exchanging information with external organizations and agencies.
- Partner with grass roots women’s groups to convey important health promotion messages.
- Policy development
- Develop comprehensive women’s health policies that focus on improving the health and health care of women.
- Stimulate the development of health policy by identifying health and health care issues for analysis.
- Support legislation aimed at creating and maintaining quality health for women in Georgia.
- Work with state legislators to promote initiatives targeting women and women’s health.
- Internal coordination
- Devise a mechanism for collaborating among the different agencies within the state that relate to women’s health issues.
- Coordinate the dissemination and exchange of information between internal groups concerned with the health of women.
- Research related to women’s health issues
- Ensure that women’s health programs and policies are supported by evidence-based research and scientific integrity.
- Fund research and education/outreach programs on pressing women’s health issues.
Core Values
- Leadership
- Education
- Advocacy
- Accountability
- Partnership
- Empowerment
Key Initiatives
- A public awareness education campaign to reduce tobacco use in girls and young women
- A wellness initiative for women: reducing health risk behaviors, taking time and taking charge of your health