Women’s Health on the Canadian Health Network

Version imprimable

Looking for health information for yourself or for a woman in your life? Women form the largest group surfing the Internet for health information. But finding trustworthy sources of information is a tough task, given the vast array of commercial interests crowding the web.

The Canadian Women’s Health Network (CWHN), as the women’s affiliate of the Canadian Health Network (CHN) for the past three years, has been providing the CHN links to reliable non-profit, Canadian sources of women’s health information. The CHN is a Health Canada-funded, bilingual website resulting from the partnership of over 1,000 non-governmental organizations, universities, and federal, provincial and territorial governments. Affiliates such as the CWHN benefit the CHN with our in-depth knowledge, expertise and networks. The credibility CHN derives from these partnerships is at the core of its motto, "Health Info for Every Body."

There are now over 1400 links to women’s health resources on the CHN, and the collection is growing. The CWHN has recently been focusing on seeking out web resources where few resources exist, in the areas of Aboriginal women’s health, Black women’s health, and the health of immigrant and refugee women of colour.

What’s new on women’s health on the CHN?
A year after the Women’s Health Initiative study came out with groundbreaking findings on the health risks of hormone therapy, women are more than ever looking for effective alternative therapies for menopausal symptoms. Check out our latest feature on the CHN site, Menopause without hormones: what are the alternatives? (www.canadian-health-network.ca) CWHN co-wrote this with CHN’s Complementary And Alternative Health affiliate.

We are also covering a wide variety of women’s health topics, by adding to our FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions):

• How can I help my daughter to have a healthy body image?
• What if I have fibroids?
• What is women’s health? (A look at gender-based analysis
• How do I talk to my daughter about periods?
• As a woman who is a smoker, how can I make changes to get healthy?

We will be posting many new FAQs in upcoming months on lesbian health, menopause, women’s health in the workplace, breast health, coping with care giving stress, vaginal health and much more.

New look and feel to the Website
The look and usability of the CHN has changed with new colours, and improved ways to search for resources. Check us out when you’re looking for on-line women’s health information! Click on "women" at: www.canadian-health-network.ca