Women's Health Toolkit

Individuals who are committed to women's health were the foundation of our success. The women's health champions who helped implement this initiative generally fall into one of two categories; internal Department of Health partners or public/private sector partners. Many of the champions who helped the department in its efforts to improve women's health volunteered their time and energy before we received the grant or sought involvement when this project was just in the formative stages. The project enjoyed strong support from many, particularly from those within the Department of Health. Outreach was also required to form and enhance partnerships with stakeholders in the public and private sectors, including providers of women's health care services through universities, hospitals, non-profit organizations, and community health centers.
 

The primary venues for mobilizing support for the state's women's health initiatives were the Intra-Agency and Interagency Women's Health Committee meetings. Identifying potential members of these committees occurred in two stages:

• The women's health staff responsible for planning and supporting these committees brainstormed a list of significant stakeholders in women's health with input from senior leaders within the department.

• At committee meetings, we identified any missing areas of expertise and invited other stakeholders to participate in order to fill those gaps. We utilized existing toolkits [pdf; 13.9kb] for identifying members and mobilizing stakeholders.

Intra-Agency Women's Health Champions

The department provides an array of women's health services through programs such as: Cardiovascular Health and Stroke Prevention, Dental, Diabetes, Comprehensive Cancer, Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention, Obesity Prevention, Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention, Family Planning, Osteoporosis Prevention, Healthy Start, Arthritis Prevention, WIC, Sexually Transmissible Disease, HIV/AIDS, Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Centers Program, Injury Prevention, Adolescent Health, Children's Medical Services, Tobacco Prevention, Environmental Health, and the Office of Minority Health. Funding mechanisms for these programs typically focus on a specific disease and require activities that are not conducive to an integrated approach to health care.

During the first year of the grant a small number of program staff actively worked together to implement the requirements of the women's health grant. In May 2005, we invited representatives from all state-level public health programs to participate in bimonthly meetings of the Intra-Agency Women's Health Committee to identify opportunities for improving collaboration on women's health. We used facilitative leadership to plan and carry out the meetings. Committee members contributed to the development of several important documents such as:

• the first inventory of DOH women's health programs,

• a gap analysis of core women's health services, and

• a strategic plan to integrate women's health.

These accomplishments would not have been possible without the commitment of the Intra-Agency Women's Health Committee.

A critical ingredient to building relationships and developing the products is the facilitator. Based on Florida's experience, you can find the attributes of an effective facilitator [pdf; 8.79kb] at this link. Here are some practical tips related to meeting facilitation that enhanced the group dynamics and working environment:

• Before engaging a workgroup in developing a product, make sure the facilitator, supervisor, and policy leaders involved understand and agree on the desired product.

• Always have an agenda with allotted time frames.

• Start all meetings with introductions.

• Set ground rules if needed.

• Allot time on the agenda for "Announcements." This opens the floor for important networking and collaboration.

• Emphasize the purpose and desired outcomes at the beginning of each meeting.

• Summarize and review feedback from last meeting at the beginning of each meeting.

• Use a flip chart and have a recorder to assist if needed.

• Thank workgroup members for making this a priority given their competing demands.

• Have fun and offer snacks.

• Facilitate group evaluation at the end of each meeting.

• Include blank evaluation comment forms [pdf; 8.10kb] for participants who may not want to speak in front of the group.
  
  Meeting Planning Checklist [pdf; 22.4kb]
  
  List of Potential Partners  [pdf; 8.32kb]
  
  Sample Invitation- Intra-Agency Women's Health Committee [pdf; 6.97kb]

Sample Meeting Agendas and Program Presentations

Mobilizing Support  [pdf; 18.3kb] and Script 1 [pdf; 18.9kb]
Defining Core Women's Health Programs and Services [pdf; 23.7kb] and Script 2 [pdf; 28.2kb]
Identifying Gaps in Women's Health Services - Part 1 [pdf; 23.7kb] and Script 3 [pdf; 28.8kb]
Identifying Gaps in Women's Health Services - Part 2 [pdf; 25.6kb] and Script 4 [pdf; 40.3kb]
Strategic Planning - Prioritizing Needs [pdf; 17.6kb] and Script 5 [pdf; 25.8kb]
Strategic Planning - Brainstorming Strategies [pdf; 17.8kb] and Script 6 [pdf; 26.4kb]
Strategic Planning - Prioritizing and Refining Strategies [pdf; 18.2kb] and Script 7 [pdf; 26kb]
Increasing Knowledge: Sexually Transmitted Diseases Program [pdf; 25.5kb] and Script 8 [pdf; 26.2kb]
PowerPoint: Sexually Transmitted Diseases Program [pdf; 6.21kb]
Increasing Knowledge: Injury Prevention and Oral Health Programs [pdf; 18.7kb] and Script 9 [pdf; 20.8kb]
PowerPoint: Injury Prevention [pdf; 82.5kb]
Increasing Knowledge: Arthritis Prevention and Education Program [pdf; 18.8kb] and Script 10 [pdf; 21kb]
PowerPoint: Arthritis Prevention and Education Program [pdf; 308kb]
Increasing Knowledge: Women's Health [pdf; 22.5kb] and Script 11 [pdf; 20.4kb]
PowerPoint: Women's Health [pdf; 1.03kb]
Increasing Knowledge: Data Linkage and Women's Health Profile [pdf; 15kb] and Script 12 [pdf; 27.1kb]
PowerPoint: Data Linkage [pdf; 880kb]
PowerPoint: Women's Health Profile [pdf; 1.98kb]

Interagency Women's Health Committee
Section 381.04015, Florida Statutes, lists seven state agencies as partners to the Department of Health for integrating women's health programs: the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Education, the Department of Elder Affairs, the Department of Corrections, the Office of Insurance Regulation and Department of Financial Services, and the Department of Juvenile Justice. We invited these state agencies, along with university and private, non-profit partners, to collaborate on priority-setting related to women's health through participation on an Interagency Committee for Women's Health.

List of Potential Partners  [pdf; 11.5kb]

State Agency Partnerships [pdf; 20kb]
 

Sample Invitations

1. Interagency Women's Health Committee - State agencies [pdf; 8.90kb]

2. Interagency Women's Health Committee - Non-state agencies [pdf; 8.98kb]

Sample Meeting Agendas
 

April 19, 2005 [pdf; 21.2kb]
December 7, 2005 [pdf; 63.1kb]
April 18, 2006 [pdf; 41.9kb]
July 20, 2006 [pdf; 52.9kb]
February 26, 2007 [pdf; 26.9kb]