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The paper explores how paid and unpaid labor history over the life course influence women’s cardiovascular disease. U.S. women comprise about 50% of the paid workforce and perform the majority of u...

The human residential city environment is the site of our future health as a race, and how the inequities in this environment play out across cultures and countries will be the focus of our next ce...

This study assessed neighbourhood walkability for older adults in eight neighbourhoods of Vancouver, British Columbia and Portland Oregon, utilizing the newly developed environmental audit tool ‘SWEAT-R’. The discrete variable based data are complemented with qualitative observation data. Findings indicate that the audit tool has a 95% or higher inter-rater reliability for more than 80% of the items. Neighbourhood environmental data suggest that neighbourhoods in Vancouver region have more urban design features supportive of walking behaviour. Sidewalk and street life environmental features were relatively similar across all four Portland neighbourhoods, however, there were notable differences in sidewalk characteristics among the four Vancouver neighbourhoods. The audit tool is useful in documenting walkable features in urban and suburban neighbourhoods with particular relevance to older adults’ needs.

As part of a women’s health center project, we reviewed 16 years of research to examine health disparities between women with and without disabilities. We reviewed MEDLINE-indexed articles between 1990 and 2005 with data on women with and without physical, sensory, intellectual, developmental, or psychiatric disabilities. Our review found few articles examining health disparities in chronic disease, cancer, mental health and substance abuse, preventive screening, health-promoting behaviors, and health services utilization. Results reflect apparent health disparities between women with and without disabilities. Challenges for the field exist in standardizing disability definitions and determining a future course for health disparity research and policy.

Empowerment has been advanced as a strategy for eliminating remaining health disparities. Popular education promotes community empowerment by increasing individuals’ and communities’ awareness of their capacity and providing a framework and strategies through which participants can identify and resolve problems. Poder es Salud/Power for Health, a community-based participatory research project, sought to improve health and decrease disparities in African American and Latino communities in Multnomah County, Oregon, through the intervention of Community Health Workers (CHWs) who used popular education. In-depth interviews were conducted with five CHWs involved in the project to explore their perceptions of the effects of the use of popular education on the CHWs and their communities. Results suggested that CHWs possessed a shared understanding of popular education. Effects on the CHWs included increases in community participation and identification, desire to advocate for the community, and sense of personal...

This study sought to elucidate associations between state-level policies related to women's health and state prevalence of obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes among women. Using data from national sources compiled for Making the Grade on Women's Health: A National and State-by-State Report Card, state policies on key women's health issues were evaluated on the degree to which policies adequately protected women's health. Blocked regressions assessed the policies associated with state outcomes. Antidiscrimination policies were prominent for high blood pressure, smoking, and obesity; models accounted for significant variance for all outcomes. State policies that support women may improve women's health.