Organized by the VA Women’s Health Research Network, the VA Women’s Health Services Research Conference on “Accelerating Impacts through Partnered Research” drew 140 attendees, including VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, MD, Congressional and White House staffers, high-level women Veteran VA leaders, Veterans Service Organization representatives, HSR&D researchers, representatives from an array of VA program offices, and other federal partners interested in advancing the translation of women’s health research to evidence-based practice and policy.
The conference, held September 6–7 in Arlington, VA, showcased a range of recently completed research, with more than 60 peer-reviewed presentations on topics related to women Veterans’ healthcare, including trauma, harassment, reproductive health, women Veterans’ healthcare delivery, women Veteran engagement and recruitment, suicide prevention, and rural health and access. Attendees heard from a panel on the role of operational partnerships and Veteran engagement in advancing research impacts, and participated in methods workshops and breakout groups that discussed VA women’s health research and knowledge gaps related to women Veterans’ needs. Content from the breakout groups will be sorted by theme to inform future research priorities in women Veterans’ health and healthcare.
“VA has been a leader in generating and acting on research evidence to systematically improve women Veterans’ care. This conference enabled us to bring together national leaders in and outside VA to ensure that our research is not only state-of-the-art methodologically but also in line with VA health system priorities and anchored in women Veterans’ preferences and needs at every level.”—Elizabeth Yano, PhD, MSPH, Director of the VA Women’s Health Research Network and HSR&D’s Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy
For more information about the Women’s Health conference, visit VA’s Office of Research and Development website.
Conference speakers included (from left to right): Becky Yano, PhD, MSPH; David Atkins, MD, MPH; Sally Haskell, MD; Susan Frayne, MD, MPH
