Empowering Women's Health: Integrated Care and Education With Jessica Horwitz, MPH, FNP-C

Jessica Horwitz, MPH, FNP-C, chief clinical officer at Tia Health, emphasizes the systemic failures that have hindered women from engaging in early preventative health to highlight challenges during National Women's Health Week. Her key message urges women to prioritize their well-being and calls on health care providers to advocate for a more supportive system.

For policymakers, Horwitz stresses the nonpartisan nature of women's health and the need for comprehensive, affirming care. She also underscores the inseparable link between mental and physical health, advocating for the seamless integration of mental health support within primary women's health care settings.

This transcript was lightly edited for clarity; captions were auto-generated.

Transcript

How can a platform like Tia Health contribute to preventive care and health education for women, potentially reducing the need for more intensive interventions down the line?

Oftentimes, the number 1 thing that women can do to prevent disease is to engage in preventative health care and have the time, energy, space, and capacity to have someone care for them well before they have the burden of disease. It is no person's fault for not engaging earlier. The health care system has really failed people in terms of making it easy for people to engage well before they have hypertension or diabetes or cancer. There is a way that Tia not only has the privilege of caring for people that are actually under our care, but I think we have a deep responsibility to educate people that may not be under Tia's care yet, who maybe live in a place where Tia doesn't have opportunities to engage with them.

I think some of the most inspirational Women's Health players out there have a presence that stretches beyond the exam room. It’s not just about the person in front of them, it's actually about the education that happens in the larger ecosystem. If a woman living in rural Iowa, where TIA is not providing care yet, hears about the type of care that she deserves, maybe that inspires her to talk about what it may mean to engage in preventative care, or feel comfortable bringing up her anxiety and depression with her provider. There's really a beautiful way that we have a larger reach when we care for people beyond what's happening in the exam room.

What is one key message you hope will resonate with women, health care providers, and policymakers during Women's Health Week 2025, given the current landscape of both opportunities and challenges in women's health?

Above all, I want women to know, you are worth it. Too often, women are taking care of all sorts of other things and people and leaving ourselves last. There is nothing selfish about prioritizing yourself and engaging in everything you can to keep yourself healthy. It's impossible to hold all of the balls when you yourself are not healthy.

When it comes to health care providers, I think that it also means caring for our health care providers, who are working tirelessly in a system that is very hard to deliver comprehensive care. How can we work to change the landscape in terms of what does it actually mean to provide health care, particularly primary health care, so that health care providers can feel healthy enough to be able to show up to care for women? I think largely when it comes to policymakers, now is the time that women's health is not a political issue. This is not a red issue or a blue issue. This is an issue of global significance, and there is an opportunity to step out and remove the politicalization that is happening in women's health and say it is better for everyone when women get high quality, comprehensive, affirming care for the entirety of their life.

Could you elaborate on the connection you see between women's mental and physical health, and what practical steps you believe can be taken to better integrate mental health support within primary women's health care settings?

The intersectionality between mental health and physical health is something that cannot be separated, and that too often we've been like, "oh, mental health is just this thing that you may deal with over here, either by yourself, or if you're so fortunate, with a therapist or with a psychiatrist".

I want women to know that these aspects of our whole being are deeply interconnected, and that we should do everything we can to integrate mental health into the primary care space so that women can get the judgment free, affirming care they deserve.