CHARTING A COURSE FOR THE FUTURE OF WOMEN’S HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES: CONCEPTS, FINDINGS AND RE COMME NDATIONS * Donna M. STROBINO, Holly GRASON, and Cynthia MINKOVITZ The Women’s and Children’s H ealth Policy Center Department of Population and F amily H ealth Sciences The Johns H opk ins School of H ygiene and Public H ealth, Baltimore, MD, USA . Abstract The JH U Women’s and Children’s H ealth Policy Center, with the federal Ma- ternal and Child H ealth Bureau, undertook a review of the health of women in the United States and invited experts to develop recommendations on health policy, pro- grams, practices and research. The review included published research, program reviews, and policy reports on women’s physical health, mental health, and health behaviors, and on the effects of health services, systems and financing on their health. Based on trends in age, ethnic back ground, education, labor-force participation, marriage and childbearing among women, the results of the reviews, and the experts' consultation, several recommendations were made for a forward look ing agenda. They included the need: 1) to focus broadly on women’s health, not just during pregnancy; 2) for compre- ———— * This paper has already been published in Social Science and Medicine , special issue, vol. 54, no. 5, March 2002, p. 839-848.