The Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) recently shared its approach to improving women’s health at the Women’s Health Strategy Champions Forum, where it was the only ICB invited to speak.
At the event, colleagues showcased Navigating Our Womanhood Together (NOWT), a community-led programme designed to reduce health inequalities and improve access to women’s health support across the Black Country.
Women in the Black Country face significant health challenges, including higher risks of poor maternity outcomes, gaps in menopause care and increased mental health needs. NOWT was developed in response to these inequalities, placing women’s voices at the centre of service design.
The programme has delivered a range of initiatives across the Black Country, including community education and training for healthcare professionals, local women’s health events and creative approaches to raising awareness and understanding of women’s health issues.
A key feature of the programme has been the NOWT Women’s Health Bus Tour, which took services directly into communities. The tour engaged hundreds of women, delivered health checks and consultations, distributed wellbeing products and helped improve access to care in a welcoming, community-based setting.
Speaking at the forum, Dr Salma Reehana, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the Black Country ICB, said: “The work showcased here demonstrates what is possible when clinical expertise and community voice come together with purpose. By listening deeply and designing alongside women, we are already seeing better access, better experiences and better outcomes. This is the Black Country at its best – innovative, compassionate, and relentlessly committed to improve. Our next step is to identify where we can maximise our limited resources in supporting this good work in the future.”
Jessie Allen, NOWT Member and Doctoral Researcher, said: “I believe the Black Country is doing incredible deep engagement with the community through trusted voices. There is a recognition that we are not in an individual battle but that we are in an interdependent battle. Fixing problems within the Integrated Care System will require adopting a relational approach that acknowledges that we are in an interdependent moment where it is going to take all of us in relationship with one another to move through these moments of uncertainty and conflict.”
The programme has also helped build community advocacy, raise awareness of women’s health issues and support more inclusive, empathetic and trauma-informed care.
Following the national recognition, the next NOWT Women’s Health Bus was announced for Friday 6 March 2026, taking place in Dudley Town Centre from 10am to 4pm to celebrate International Women’s Day.
