Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-290) and index.

Because women have different health needs than men, they experience the health care system differently. Women have higher morbidity, experiencing more disease and disability throughout the life span. At the same time, because women live longer, they are more susceptible to late-on-set disease, such as osteoporosis and dementia. Yet until recently, the question of gender equity in U.S. health care has received little attention.

Using a sociological perspective, Women's Health Care: Activist Traditions and Institutional Change critically examines contemporary assumptions about the health care of women in the U.S. and presents the basis for a policy agenda to improve the health care of women. The book assesses and synthesizes existing information on the state of women's health care while also presenting new data. Topics addressed include the historical, theoretical, and empirical: gender differences in health and health care; the multiplicity of providers from whom women receive health care; the need to integrate reproductive health care and other components of primary care; such new organizational forms as women's health centers; and financing.

SACFinal081324