At Helping Our Women, we’ve always known that the women we serve face real, compounding barriers to health and wellbeing. In the past two months, I’ve been digging in the data, writing grant applications or reports, so I thought I’d share some highlights with you to underscore why your engagement and support matters so much.
Our mission to educate, empower, and support women with chronic or serious health conditions on the Outer Cape addresses two interconnected problems:
- Geographic isolation limits healthcare access. Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet are designated “rural” by federal public health agencies, and Eastham is classified as “rural” by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. For women managing chronic illness, this means traveling 27 to 115 miles — one-way — to get physical therapy, see a specialist, or reach a hospital.
- Systemic bias in healthcare leads to delayed diagnoses and poorer outcomes for women—bias that is compounded for women of color and multilingual women.
Recent research validates these challenges:
- Nationally, an August 2025 brief from the American Medical Women’s Association states:
“Women in rural communities frequently face unique, compounding barriers to care… Rural women experience higher rates of chronic illness… Financial barriers play a significant role in limiting access to care… making it difficult to attend routine appointments and often delaying preventive care, which increases the risk of poor health outcomes… Addressing the geographic divide in healthcare is not only a matter of access—it’s a matter of justice.”
This aligns with research from McKinsey, the Society for Women’s Health Research, and others showing that women face delayed diagnoses, poorer outcomes, and longer periods of their lives living in poor health compared with men.
- Locally, the newly released Cape Cod Healthcare Community Health Needs Survey confirms these realities. Access to healthcare “continues to be identified as one of the leading health needs in our community.” Women are more likely than men to find it difficult to access services, and only 16% of respondents said health services for women were very easy to access. Fifty-five percent cited transportation to medical appointments as a high or moderate concern, with Outer Cape residents “particularly impacted.” Provincetown’s poverty rate exceeds the state average (11.9% vs. 10.0%) and the Outer Cape towns we serve have a combined a low-income household rate of 37.2% ( ± 5.7%).
This research shows exactly why HOW exists.
- When we provide door-to-door transportation to medical appointments, we’re bridging the geographic divide.
- When we help women navigate complex healthcare systems, we’re countering the bias that leads to delayed care.
- When Peer Wellness Coaches offer support, we’re addressing the isolation that worsens health outcomes.
- When we provide financial assistance grants, we’re ensuring that economic hardship doesn’t force women to choose between rent and medical care.
The research is clear. The need is now. And because of you, women on the Outer Cape don’t have to face these challenges alone. Thank you for joining with the HOW community to make waves for women’s health, Gwynne