The Source/La Source is a bilingual web-based tool to assist researchers, policy makers, health planners, and students identify sources of health data for women and girls in British Columbia and elsewhere. Improving access to the evidence base for women’s health will better inform women’s health policy development and improve the care provided to women and girls not only in British Columbia, but across the country.

The directory offers access to women’s health data and resources on a number of different indicators of women’s health. The Source/La Source is organized into three categories: Health Status, Health Determinants, and Health Services. Health status refers to the data on the presence of disease, disability, well-being, and mortality of women. Health Determinants are factors that influence women’s health and well-being, that can affect not only women’s health status, but also the way in which women access health services. Finally, Health Services includes indicators that reflect the use, accessibility, appropriateness, and quality of the health care system in meeting the needs of women.

The Survey/Le Sondage is a bilingual web based repository that links women’s health practitioners, policy makers, health authorities, and women’s groups to a range of resources on women’s health, including international, national, and provincial documents. Materials such as local health authority reports, reports commissioned by governments, and those produced by and for community groups and citizens are included. The Survey/Le Sondage allows users to search for specific reports and other sources of grey literature that are pertinent to both the geographic area and topic of interest.

The Synthesis/La Synthèse is a bilingual web-based tool to assist researchers, policy makers, health planners, and students identify sources of health data for women and girls in British Columbia and elsewhere. Improving access to the evidence base for women’s health will better inform women’s health policy development and improve the care provided to women and girls not only in British Columbia, but across the country.

The project is funded by the Women's Health Research Network (WHRN) as part of their Women's Health Surveillance project and Health Canada is supporting the bilingual development of the directory.