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Dear fellow Texan,
 
Thank you for visiting the Healthy Women, Healthy Families website!  Please click here to take the survey or share your story.
 
Healthy Women, Healthy Families is a statewide coalition of more than 25 grassroots and nonprofit organizations that formed in the spring of 2008 to launch a survey and story-sharing project.  The coalition has two goals: to use the results of this project to improve access to healthcare services for women and families in Texas, and to improve the quality of existing healthcare services.
 
Texas has a grim track record when it comes to the health of women and their families.  According to the most recent statistics available:
  • Texas has the nation’s highest rate of women aged 15-44 with no health insurance1
  • 24% of babies in Texas are born to women who receive little or no prenatal care2
  • 23% of Texas children live in poverty3
  • Texas is one of the ten states with the highest percentage of women over 40 who have not had a mammogram in the past ten years4

Furthermore, it is clear that not all Texas women experience similar inequities.  Certain populations – women of color, low-income women, and disabled women, to name just a few – are more affected than others.  For example:

  • Black and Latina women have the highest death rates from cervical cancer, and mortality is even higher for Latina women living near the Texas-Mexico border5
  • Half of all Texas women giving birth must rely on Medicaid to cover their child’s birth6
  • Women with disabilities are often denied reproductive and other types of health care, or given substandard care compared to non-disabled women7
The Healthy Women, Healthy Families coalition strives to reflect the real experiences of a broad range of communities, not just those who have the resources and institutional power to advocate for their own healthcare needs.  We are building a coalition around a broad range of issue areas in order to emphasize the fact that the health of Texas women and families affects all of us, no matter who we are, where we live, or what our organization’s focus.
 
As part of this commitment to raising the voices of real women across the state, we made the decision to collect personal stories, not just numbers or statistics.  Too often, those with the fewest resources become just another number and their stories and lived experiences are ignored or overlooked.  While statistics are important, we believe that personal stories are what ultimately hold the power to make change.
 
Please join us by taking the survey and sharing your story today.
 
In solidarity,
 
The Healthy Women, Healthy Families Coalition
 
1The Status of Women in Texas, 2004: Highlights. Ed. Amy Caiazza, Dr. and April Shaw. The Status of Women in the States (2004) R297. Institute for Women's Policy Research. Nov. 2004. Accessed 20 Jan. 2009. http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/TX_R297.pdf
2New Report: Statewide, Some Areas of Maternal & Child Health Improving.  Center for Public Policy Priorities.  State of Texas Children 2007.  Nov. 2007.  Accessed 20 Jan. 2009. http://www.cppp.org/files/10/State%20Releaseforweb.pdf
3Ibid.
4Mammogram Rate for Women 40+, 2006. StateHealthFacts.org. Kaiser Family Foundation. Accessed 20 Jan. 2009. http://statehealthfacts.kff.org/comparemaptable.jsp?ind=479&cat=10
5Barriers and Facilitators of Cervical Cancer Screening Among Hispanic Women. Byrd, Chavez, Wilson. Ethnicity & Disease, Vol. 17, 2007.
6Texas: Births Financed by Medicaid as a Percent of Total Births, 2002. StateHealthFacts.org. Kaiser Family Foundation. Accessed 21 Apr. 2008. http://statehealthfacts.kff.org/profileind.jsp?ind=223&cat=4&rgn=45
7Health Disparities between Women with Physical Disabilities and Women in the General Population.  The Center for Research on Women with Disabilities.  May 2005.  Accessed 20 Jan. 2009.  http://www.bcm.edu/crowd/?PMID=1331#list

 

Healthy Women Healthy Families Coalition • PO Box 684602 • Austin, TX 78768 • (512) 462-1661
www.HealthyWomenHealthyFamilies.org