Physical Health and Well-being: Updates and the Way Ahead

Introduction: The Women in Combat Summit 2021 “Forging the Future: How Women Enhance the Fighting Force” took place during February 9-11, 2021, via a virtual conference platform. The third and final day of the Summit regarded the physical health and well-being of military women and included the topics of urogenital health, nutrition and iron-deficiency anemia, unintended pregnancy and contraception, and traumatic brain injury. Materials and methods: After presentations on the topics earlier, interested conference attendees were invited to participate in focus groups to discuss and review policy recommendations for physical health and well-being in military women. Discussions centered around the topics discussed during the presentations, and suggestions for future Women in Combat Summits were noted. Specifics of the methods of the Summit are presented elsewhere in this supplement. Results: We formulated research and policy recommendations for urogenital health, nutrition and iron-deficiency anemia, contraception and unintended pregnancy, and traumatic brain injury. Conclusions: In order to continue to develop the future health of military women, health care providers, researchers, and policymakers should consider the recommendations made in this supplement as they continue to build on the state of the science and forge the future.