·        A precautionary and preventive perspective that promotes health and wellness before problems arise, thereby preventing poor health outcomes and aligning with the medical tenet of “first do no harm.”

·        A holistic perspective that considers the multiple influences of biological, psychological, environmental, and social factors on women’s health, and that embraces a wellness approach, rather than being problem focused. Such a perspective focuses on women’s assets, stressing resiliency and relational ties as positive factors that affect health – including relationship with nature and a healthy environment.

·        A lifespan perspective that recognizes that women have different health and psychosocial needs as they encounter transitions across their lives and that the positive and negative effects of health and health behaviors are cumulative across a woman’s lifespan.

·        A social role perspective recognizing that women routinely hold multiple, overlapping and sometimes conflicting social roles.

·        A woman-centered perspective that considers women’s gender-specific experiences as normative, recognizes the diversity among women in their health care needs and their access to adequate health resources, and acknowledges that women have the knowledge and right to make decisions about their own health.

·        A cultural perspective that recognizes that culture, language, and country of origin have an important and significant impact on the health perceptions and health behaviors that produce a variety of health outcomes and that information must be provided at an appropriate literacy level and in culturally and linguistically competent ways.

·        A collaborative perspective that promotes informed decision-making, participation in the process of women’s own healing and information sharing.  

·        A root cause perspective that looks for solutions, but also considers systemic problems rooted in the relationships between patient, provider, and insurance company.

·        A perspective that recognizes the inequality of power that exists in many interactions including between men and women, between patient and provider, and between government and community.