Women's Health Commons^™

Health-Seeking Behaviors Of Ethiopian Women In The United States: A Pilot Qualitative Study, Hanna Belay, Felicia Leammuda, Ahmed Ugbad, Beamlak Kebede

InnovateHER Meeting 2026

This study explores how Ethiopian immigrant women understand health and navigate healthcare in the United States. Using qualitative interviews with two participants, findings show that health is viewed holistically, with strong reliance on traditional remedies. Participants engage with the U.S. healthcare system selectively, often seeking care only when symptoms become severe. Barriers such as system complexity, fear, and time delays influence healthcare decisions.

Empowering Women: Understanding Neurological Changes In The Aging Brain, Joy Mckenzie

InnovateHER Meeting 2026

Women tend to have more neurological changes than men as they age starting in their mid-30s (Mosconi, 2024). While aging is a natural process, the neurological changes can impact a woman’s personal and professional quality of life (Faubion et al., 2023; Gravini, 2023). For years, women’s neurological symptoms have been ignored by being told that their experiences are normal and just a part of life (Haver, 2025). That narrative is starting to shift with the increased awareness of changes specific to women. There are resources to assess cognitive changes such as memory, processing speed, and word finding and strategies to …

Improving Hormone Therapy Replacement Use Through Provider Education, Caitlin Schmidt, Jennifer Peterson

InnovateHER Meeting 2026

Menopausal symptoms significantly affect quality of life, yet hormone therapy (HRT) remains underutilized in primary care settings. This quality improvement project assessed whether a brief educational intervention could improve provider knowledge and prescribing confidence. A pre–post survey design revealed increased knowledge, greater guideline awareness, and heightened willingness to prescribe HRT following a 10–15 minute educational module.

Is Home Birth A Choice? Racial And Geographic Differences In Unintended Home Births In The U.S., Anna De La Paz

Population Health Research Brief Series

Home births that happen without planning or medical support (i.e., unintended home births) carry a higher likelihood of adverse outcomes, such as low birth weight, preterm birth, and hypothermia. This data slice summarizes findings using data from CDC WONDER (2017–2023) on racial, regional, and metropolitan status differences in home births among women ages 15–44 in the U.S. Findings show that unintended home births are disproportionately concentrated among non-Hispanic Black women, with rates varying substantially by region and metropolitan status.

The Mommy Wine Culture: A Scoping Review Using The Person-Environment-Occupational Model., Sabina Khan

Student Dissertations

Maternal alcohol use as a coping response to parenting-related stress has received growing attention in public health and psychology but remains underexplored within occupational therapy. This gap limits understanding of how daily role demands, environmental pressures, and individual vulnerabilities combine to shape drinking as a functional coping behavior. This dissertation aimed to identify and synthesize factors associated with maternal alcohol use in the context of parenting stress and interpret these determinants using the person–environment–occupation model. A scoping review was conducted following the Arksey and O’Malley framework and reported according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Five databases were systematically searched without date or …

Exploring Dominican University Nursing Students’ Perceptions Of Economic Barriers To Accessing Essential Women’S Health Products, Annabelle E. Burke

Nursing | Senior Theses

Period poverty is defined as inconsistent or inadequate access to feminine hygiene products, and it has been shown to negatively impact physical and mental health, academic performance, and dignity across diverse populations. Existing research highlights financial strain, social stigma, and insufficient support as key barriers to menstrual equity among individuals experiencing homelessness, adolescents living in low-resource environments, low-income women, and general undergraduate students (Brinkley & Niebuhr, 2023; Dave et al., 2022; Gruer et al., 2021; Lahme et al., 2018; Parkinson et al., 2024; Gilchrist et al., 2024). However, no studies have examined these issues amongst Dominican University nursing students who …

The Divide Of Women’S Health: Systematic Thinking Of Women, Tasfia T. Howlader

Honors Theses

Women’s health has constantly been changing- from public health infrastructure to health policies, and even medical advancements. Yet, the struggles are persistent within the gaps present in women’s health. The Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) explains interactions between different levels of relationships, which result in health outcomes that vary from individual factors to environmental factors. Applying the SEM to describe health disparities can help explain how the relationships an individual has influenced their health. This project serves to exemplify these different levels while discussing the tailoring of services to the needs and the importance of populations based on their experiences. Specifically, adhering …

Investigating Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Cardiometabolic Outcomes Among Women With Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: An Umbrella Review, Gianna C. Santoni

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrinological disorders affecting women of reproductive age. Due to the possibility of a genetic component affecting women with PCOS, evidence supports varying health outcomes among racial and ethnic groups. This literature aims to answer the question: Does the prevalence of cardiometabolic outcomes differ among women with polycystic ovarian syndrome across racial/ethnic groups? This umbrella review was conducted in accordance with JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and PRIOR reporting guidelines and was registered on PROSPERO (CRD420261303872) before completion. PubMed, MEDLINE via EBSCOhost, and Web of Science via EBSCOhost were searched from …

Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning In Smart Vaginal Formulation Development, Deborah A. Ogundemuren, Vivek Agrahari, Andrew P. Wong, Carolina Herrera, Margaret O. Ilomuanya, Gustavo F. Doncel

CONRAD Publications

Vaginal drug delivery in women's health remains underutilized and insufficiently studied, largely due to the complexity and dynamic nature of the vaginal microenvironment. Variations in vaginal pH, hormonal levels, and microbiota composition introduce significant biological variability, complicating formulation design and contributing to inconsistent therapeutic outcomes and poor patient adherence. Conventional vaginal formulations often fail to account for these individual differences, highlighting the need for more adaptive and predictive approaches. Emerging advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) offer promising strategies to address these challenges by enabling multi-parameter, data-driven formulation development that explicitly considers biological variability. Despite their transformative …

Investigating How Social Support Impacts The Use Of Primary Healthcare Services For Women Undergoing Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder, Sydney Macon, Vanessa Short, Phd, Mph

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Individuals with substance use disorders often face challenges in accessing and utilizing primary care, exacerbated by a lack of social support. Understanding the intricate dynamics between social support and primary care utilization is crucial for enhancing healthcare delivery, especially among vulnerable populations such as women undergoing substance use disorder treatment. There is a lack of research regarding this connection and our research aims to change that. We want to explore how social support influences the use of regular healthcare, particularly for women facing substance use challenges. By doing this research, we hope it will lead to future discoveries of …

Strengthening The Birthing Bridge: Educating Labor And Delivery Nurses On Scope And Impact Of Volunteer Doulas, Catherine H. De La Torre

Master's Projects and Capstones

The objective of this quality improvement project was to address the lack of collaboration between the Labor and Delivery (L&D) nurses and the volunteer doulas on a L&D unit at a Bay Area hospital. There were reports of not understanding the role of the volunteer doula, which may have led to a lack of collaboration between both teams. The aim of this project was to improve the L&D nursing staff's understanding of the scope of practice of the volunteer doula to increase positive perception and collaboration between both professions by 25%, from 63% to 88%, following an educational intervention at …

The Overturning Of Roe V. Wade And People Capable Of Pregnancy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Carrie Bohmer

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade in their decision within Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, removing the constitutional right to abortion within the United States (US). Leading up to this anticipated and highly politicized case, 13 states passed preemptive legislation (i.e. “trigger bans”) that immediately made abortion illegal following the Dobbs decision. Limited research has explicitly explored the intersection of sexual health and reproductive health from a psychological perspective. Grounded in a reproductive justice framework, this interpretative phenomenological analysis sought to understand how people capable of pregnancy living …

Understanding Challenges To Breast Cancer Screening For African American Women In Detroit: A Study Of Social And Healthcare Inequities, Miranda Goodson, Whitney Bowyer, Erika Lopez, Anna Lundh

Medical Student Research Symposium

African American (AA) women have lower adherence to breast cancer screening guidelines, which may contribute to delayed diagnoses and reduced survival rates. These disparities are often influenced by limited access to quality healthcare and persistent inequities faced within Michigan. With Detroit's population being 77% AA, examining studies focused on the experiences of Black women within urban healthcare networks is essential to understanding the connections between demographic, socioeconomic factors, and breast cancer outcomes. To assess these studies, a literature search was conducted using Ovid Medline yielding 24 associated articles.

Mammogram rates among AA women in Detroit remain low, reflecting a complex …

Patient And Healthcare Provider Knowledge Of Exercise During Pregnancy., Robert J. Leone, Dr. Shihyun Kim, Vidhi Sharma, Monique Swain

Medical Student Research Symposium

Title: Patient and Healthcare Provider Knowledge of Exercise During Pregnancy.

Authors: Leone, R., Kim, S., Sharma, V., Swain, M.

Introduction:

Physical activity before and during pregnancy can significantly improve pregnancy outcomes. ACOG’s evidence-based recommendations help healthcare providers (HCPs) educate patients regarding the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. However, many patients do not engage in regular physical activity. We aim to determine how provider counseling on exercise per ACOG recommendations impacts patients’ exercise and perception of exercise during pregnancy.

Methods:

This is a survey study of HCPs offering prenatal and postpartum care, and pregnant patients. HCPs were given surveys …

Women’S Health Considerations In Traumatic Brain Injury, Sindhoori Nalla

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty Papers

Purpose of Review: Biological sex differences are an important factor to consider when treating TBI, as there can be a disproportionate manifestation of symptoms and recovery process when comparing females to males. Historically, these differences have not been well studied, and there is still much to be understood as to why these differences exist. Recent Findings: A number of factors are thought to contribute to disparities with women who have a TBI, including lack of well-designed research studies focused on women, hormonal fluctuations at the time of and as a result of a TBI, psychosocial comorbidities, and societal norms/expectations. While …

Breast Cancer Diagnoses Are Increasing Among Racial And Ethnic Minority Women In The U.S., Esther Oshaji

Population Health Research Brief Series

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and a leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. This data slice uses data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) Incidence Database to examine trends in breast cancer incidence rates among women by race and ethnicity in the U.S. from 2000 to 2021. The author finds that, while incidence rates remain highest among non-Hispanic White women, the largest increases in diagnoses have been among American Indian/Alaska Native Asian/Pacific Islander women.

Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy In Pregnant And Postpartum Women, Madison G. Kaup

Senior Theses

This project had three main goals: 1) Explore how pregnancy and childbirth affect the female pelvic floor anatomy and physiology, 2) Examine current practices through a literature review and interviews conducted with pelvic floor physical therapists currently practicing in various clinical settings across the United States, and 3) Develop suggestions to mitigate the challenges currently faced in the field by patients and therapists.

The female pelvic floor undergoes extensive changes throughout pregnancy as its structures are targeted by laxity-inducing hormones and mechanical stress from the growing fetus. During childbirth, the system is stretched beyond its physiological limit, causing damage to …

Accessible Dietary Interventions For The Prevention And Management Of Common Menstrual Disorders: A Systematic Review, Ella R. Motzko

Theses and Graduate Projects

Objective: This systematic review aims to provide healthcare providers with evidence-based dietary recommendations that can be easily implemented by patients across diverse populations to address a critical gap in the management of common menstrual disorders like premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and primary dysmenorrhea (PD).

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted using UpToDate, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) Green Journal, Google Scholar, and PubMed electronic databases to identify randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the effects of specific essential nutrients or diet-related behavioral or educational interventions on PMS or PD symptoms.

Results: Following the PRISMA guidelines, the identification process began with …

Gender-Specific Mental Health Outcomes In Central America: A Natural Experiment, Thea Nagasuru

Computer Science Summer Fellows

While COVID lockdown measures have had varying effects on the mental health of different demographics, several bodies of research have noted their disparate effect on women. Why is women's mental health more negatively impacted by lockdown measures, and how much more are they impacted than men? How can we predict and mitigate these negative effects on women? This paper aims to contribute to answering those questions by comparing COVID stringency measures and their effect on the gap in depression rates between men and women in two neighboring countries: Nicaragua and Honduras.

Breastfeeding As Co-Occupation: Occupational Therapy’S Role In Promoting Health And Well-Being, Lisa Joelle Sutton, Julie D. Kugel, Dragana Krpalek, Arezou Salamat

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Even with efforts to encourage mothers to breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months, the majority of women are not able to undertake breastfeeding as the sole means of infant nutrition provision for various reasons. The role of occupational therapists working with mothers who breastfeed is complex and not strongly supported in the literature. Therefore, this qualitative study was designed to examine the role that occupational therapists may engage in supporting mothers and infants in the co-occupation of breastfeeding.

Method: A qualitative phenomenological study design was applied and included 11 occupational therapists working with breastfeeding dyads. The …

Guilty Pleasure: Women's Perception Of Health, Body Image, And Femininity, Irene *Yi-Han Chung

Masters Theses

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Sex Differences In Revascularization, Treatment Goals, And Outcomes Of Patients With Chronic Coronary Disease: Insights From The Ischemia Trial, Harmony R Reynolds, Derek D Cyr, C Noel Bairey Merz, Leslee J Shaw, Bernard R Chaitman, William E Boden, Karen P Alexander, Yves D Rosenberg, Sripal Bangalore, Gregg W Stone, Claes Held, John Spertus, Kaatje Goetschalckx, Olga Bockeria, Jonathan D Newman, Jeffrey S Berger, Ahmed Elghamaz, Renato D Lopes, James K Min, Daniel S Berman, Michael H Picard, Raymond Y Kwong, Robert A Harrington, Boban Thomas, Sean M O'Brien, David J Maron, Judith S Hochman, Ischemia Research Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Women with chronic coronary disease are generally older than men and have more comorbidities but less atherosclerosis. We explored sex differences in revascularization, guideline-directed medical therapy, and outcomes among patients with chronic coronary disease with ischemia on stress testing, with and without invasive management.

METHODS AND RESULTS: The ISCHEMIA (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness with Medical and Invasive Approaches) trial randomized patients with moderate or severe ischemia to invasive management with angiography, revascularization, and guideline-directed medical therapy, or initial conservative management with guideline-directed medical therapy alone. We evaluated the primary outcome (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or hospitalization for …

How Does The Us Media Frame Personal Experiences Of Termination Of Pregnancy, Christina Relacion

Student Works

Limited studies have examined the lived experience of those facing termination of pregnancy due to fetal anomaly in the U.S., particularly after the 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. There exists a body of research elsewhere around the world studying how the media frames these experiences, but little is known about the role American media organizations play as health educators for critical reproductive healthcare topics, such as the termination of pregnancy. This critical analysis sought to understand how the U.S. media frames personal accounts of those who have experienced termination of pregnancy due to fetal anomaly, or …

Mountain West State Health System Rankings, 2023, Julia Salangsang, Ivan Sun, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents data from the “2023 Scorecard on State Health System Performance” published by The Commonwealth Fund. The original report includes data from all 50 states and measures health system performance based on health care access, quality, use of services, costs, health disparities, reproductive care and women’s health, and health outcomes.

Variation In Functional Pelvic Tilt In Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty With Acetabular Dysplasia, Myung-Jin Cha, Joel Wells, Yin Xi, Avneesh Chhabra

Research Colloquium

Purpose: It is important to clarify the link between acetabular dysplasia and pelvic tilt to optimize surgical planning and postoperative outcomes. We sought to investigate functional pelvic tilt in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty with acetabular dysplasia.

Materials & Methods: From 2014 to 2020, pre-operative AP Pelvis X-rays, CT scans, and other patient-specific data such as pelvic tilt, lumbar lordotic angle, etc were collected as part of surgical planning for total hip arthroplasty. From this database, we investigated 678 female patients under the age of 50 that had undergone preoperative standing AP pelvis X-rays. Analysis was performed by investigating how …

A Systematic Literature Review Of Telehealth For Health Equity In Pediatric And Women's Health Care: Promise Vs Reality, Sharanya Chandu

Honors Scholar Theses

Background: Telehealth interventions can transform the healthcare system to improve accessibility, quality of care, and outcomes for women’s obstetric health.

Objective: This literature review seeks to summarize current research to understand the effect of telehealth on women’s obstetrics and gynecology outcomes.

Methods: A literature review was conducted following the PRISMA methodology to identify a set of papers containing information related to obstetrics and maternal health. The search terms used identified telehealth or telemedicine interventions used for obstetric, maternal, or prenatal care from the period 2013-2023. 19 articles were identified and reviewed.

Results: The literature review considered three primary aspects from …

How Does Birth Control Impact Overall User Wellness: A Mixed-Methodology Approach Surveying How Physical, Mental, And Social Wellness Is Impacted By Use Of Birth Control, Ashley Beamon

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The purpose of this study is to understand the ways in which birth control may impact wellness. By looking at physical activity, social wellness, experienced side effects, and a range of demographics, the goal is to better understand how the use of birth control may impact its user’s overall wellness. After gathering data in a two-week survey, I discovered that mood swings, weight gain, and depression were the top three reported side effects and Latina women reported irregular bleeding at a higher frequency than white women. Loneliness is impacted by birth control use; users were 30% more likely to report …

Menstrual Justice In Theoretical Context, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

This Essay reviews and places into theoretical contexts Bridget Crawford and Emily Waldman’s invaluable book Menstruation Matters. Although the authors themselves do not explicitly label the theoretical approach that undergirds their work, much of Menstruation Matters: Challenging the Law’s Silence on Periods falls within the liberal feminist legal tradition typical of post-civil rights second-wave feminism. Their work also embodies aspects of critical feminist approaches to law. Crawford & Waldman expose the discriminatory effects of facially neutral laws, the limits of formal equality, and the pitfalls of essentializing or making universal claims about categories of individuals—including women and menstruators. In …

Virtual Home Visits During Covid-19 Pandemic: Mothers' And Home Visitors' Perspectives, Abdullah Al-Taiar, Michele A. Kekeh, Stephanie Ewers, Amy L. Prusinski, Kimberly J. Alombro, Nancy Welch

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background

The experiences of mothers enrolled in Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program with virtual home visiting (VHV) during the pandemic remain mostly unknown. This study aimed to describe in detail the experience of home visitors and mothers with VHV during COVID-19 pandemic. This is a prerequisite for guiding future efforts to optimize MIECHV services that are provided through virtual operation.

Methods

Focus groups discussion were conducted with home visitors (n = 13) and mothers (n = 30) who were enrolled in BabyCare program in Virginia from January 2019 to June 2022. This included mothers who received …

A Student-Designed Multimodal Sex- And Gender-Based Women's Health Elective Program: Advocacy Curriculum For Medical Students, Lauren M Conroy, Danna Ghafir, Maitreyi Narayan, Hunter Mcspedden, Samuel Neher, S Shahrukh Hashmi, Rebecca Lunstroth

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this article is to describe the design and implementation of a multimodal, student-driven, sex- and gender-based women's health (SGBWH) elective with a curricular focus on patient and legislative advocacy. In this single arm, pre/post design, interventional study, we detail and evaluate the use of social media, newsletters, and round-table discussions in conjunction with a traditional lecture-based educational format to engage medical students in a virtual learning environment.

METHODS: We developed a 22-week SGBWH curriculum for pre-clinical and clinical medical students, which included a series of lectures on multi-specialty and gender-inclusive topics related to SGBWH, small group …