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Community Women's Wellness Center

OUR MISSION
Empowering women to take charge of their health.
Providing care services, education, and outreach.

MISSION 

The Community Women's Wellness Center (CWWC) is an expansion of The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing's Breast Cancer Screening Project.

It provides comprehensive breast and cervical cancer screening for Austin/Travis County women who are 40 years and older with limited incomes.

The CWWC mission is to improve the wellness and health maintenance care for the underserved (uninsured and not eligible for Medicaid) women beyond childbearing years in our community.

The CWWC objectives include:

1) providing health promoting and preventative services for underserved women

2) evaluating care outcomes and services delivery

3) educating health professional students, and

4) conducting research concerning the effectiveness of wellness and preventative services and outcomes of care 

HISTORY

The University of Texas Community Women's Wellness Center originated as the Breast Cancer Screening Project (1990) as a result of a Texas Cancer Council supported assessment of Travis County women's need for mammography screening for breast cancer.  It has evolved into the CWWC.

Founded as a model nurse managed clinic supported by the Division of Nursing (USDHHS:HRSA:DON) from 1993-1998, it has delivered breast cancer screening services to more than 6000 different women and cervical screening services in its operation with support from TDSHS (BCCS). During this time we have detected more than breast cancers in these underserved women and have assisted them in obtaining timely surgical and oncologic follow-up care with our community health profession partners.  

Our Community Women's Advisory Committee encouraged us to add more health promotion and preventive services for the women we serve in our community.

Nursing students at UT Austin have clinical practicum experiences at the Center.  The CWWC receives support from the Texas Department of State Health Service, the Shivers Cancer Foundation, the Austin Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the Veritas Foundation. Our "model of community based care" for establishing community partnerships for similarly organized screening programs for African American women was established in three other sites in Texas (Dallas, Houston and East Texas) with support from the Texas Cancer Council.

Records for the 2006-2007 client year indicate that women we serve are representative of the ethnicities of Austin/Travis County (African American 7.5%; Hispanic 69%; White 21%; and other 3%).  Services are offered in both English and Spanish.

Thus, our primary population of the CWWC women are:

1) beyond childbearing age (40 years of age and older) 

2) limited incomes (200% federal guidelines)

3) little or no insurance 

4) have minimal access to health care services.