Encyclopedia of Women's Health

Encyclopedia of Women's Health

Edited by
Sana Loue, JD, PhD, MPH
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio
and
Martha Sajatovic, MD
University Hospitals of Cleveland
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

The field of “women’s health” is not a solitary discipline. Women’s health consists,
instead, of knowledge and expertise of professionals in many disciplines who work
together to improve women’s health status. Accordingly, the Encyclopedia of
Women’s Health brings together the knowledge and experience of professionals
from a wide range of fields including medicine, law, psychology, social work,
demography, education, epidemiology, dentistry, cosmetology, massage, nutrition,
physical fitness, history, and many others. This broad foundation allows us to
explore women’s health from a biopsychosocial perspective, and to consider the
many facets of women’s health and the many factors that impact women’s health
status. This text is intended as a reference both for nonhealth professionals who
wish to have a more in-depth understanding of various topics, and for health professionals
searching for an introduction to fields outside of their own.
The first portion of the Encyclopedia serves as an introduction to the study of
women’s health. It includes an in-depth examination of various foundational
aspects of women’s health, including the history of women’s health, women in the
health professions, the impact of work on women’s health, and women’s role in
providing health care to others. The second portion of the Encyclopedia is organized
alphabetically by entry. These entries focus on all aspects of women’s health,
from medicine, to legal issues, to history, to beauty, to complementary and alternative
approaches to health. The information that is presented is meant to be practical
and informative. Each entry is followed by a list of suggested readings, as well
as a listing of resources available on the Internet and elsewhere. We trust that you
will find these pages both exciting and informative in their depth and coverage.