THE WOMEN'S HEALTH O.T.

The NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) has outlined specific initiatives within The 2019-2023 Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women's Health.  Within this plan, they call for an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses the "interwoven effect of biological, social and life course factors on disease prevention, presentation, progression, and treatment" (p. iv).  A life-course approach examines the biological, psychological, and social pathways that link the progression of early life experiences, reproductive milestones, general risk factors experienced in adulthood, and the overall health outcomes that present later in life (Kuh & Hardy, 2002).   Thus, it is believed that the health of every woman over the age of middle-adulthood is the result of such biological, social, and psychosocial occurrences that progress over the span of her life.   Understanding how each life stage brings the potential for health burdens is essential when seeking to empower women with actionable opportunities for health improvement.