Early this month the foundation held its first annual “Transforming the Healthcare of Women with Disabilities” workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to bring together medical experts, health and disability leaders and national advocacy patient groups to provide input and expertise on critical healthcare policies, practices and solutions and design a long-term research agenda on best practice care guidelines.

The workshop is part of the Foundation’s larger Women’s Health Initiative, which is a collaborative network of nationally renowned medical institutions joining together to identify the barriers to better healthcare and begin to develop and implement new approaches.

The outcomes of the workshop were to review the findings from a national survey of women’s obstetrical, gynecological, and breast care and develop pilot research projects to be implemented in Year 2 related to each of the four focus areas.

“It was personally empowering to know that the result of our spirited discussions and projected research recommendations will empower women with disabilities everywhere to have greater control over their healthcare and be able to advocate for what they need to have a positive patient experience”

This effort is funded with the generous support of 100 Women in Hedge Funds and supported through a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).