New Rowan Foundation Report Centers Patient and Family Voices in Women’s Health

“Voices to Practice” identifies six priorities for clearer blood clot risk communication, informed decision-making, symptom recognition, and care

HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES, October 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Rowan Foundation today released “Voices to Practice: Patient and Family Insights for Blood Clot Awareness and Safer Women’s Health Decisions,” a new report shaped by blood clot survivors, people navigating recovery, family members, and bereaved parents.

“Voices to Practice” was developed through the work of the Foundation’s Patient & Community Advisory Group, or PCAG. The group brings together people directly affected by blood clots to help inform the Foundation’s women’s health education, communications, and awareness programs. Members identified a range of experiences, including what helped, but focused especially on recurring gaps in risk information, communication, symptom recognition, and response.

“Patients and families can help us see where important information is not being understood, remembered, or applied,” said David Rowan, who founded the Rowan Foundation after his only child, Alexandra, died at age 23 from a massive pulmonary embolism. “When considered alongside clinical evidence, their experiences can help identify where education, communication, and care need to improve.”

The report identifies six priorities for improving blood clot risk communication, informed decision-making, symptom recognition, and care across women’s health:

1. Turn risk information into usable knowledge. Women need relevant context, warning signs, and clear guidance about what to do.

2. Make individualized decision-making the standard. Health history, life stage, treatment goals, and personal preferences should inform women’s health decisions.

3. Give hormonal and nonhormonal options a fair hearing. Balanced information should support informed contraceptive choice without dismissing patients’ questions or preferences.

4. Improve recognition and response when symptoms emerge. Blood clots should remain a meaningful clinical consideration when symptoms, medications, and risk factors point in that direction.

5. Build patient voice into safer care. Listening can strengthen assessment and decision-making, but patients should not be expected to diagnose themselves.

6. Put credible information within reach. Medically reviewed resources should be clear, current, and available where women seek answers.

“Being heard and taken seriously can change a healthcare experience,” said Angella Beckford, a blood clot survivor, patient advocate, and PCAG founding member. “Women need clear information, room to ask questions, and confidence that their concerns will not be dismissed.”

The need for clear information and responsive care extends across many areas of women’s health. The report considers how these priorities apply to contraception; hormonal medications prescribed for conditions such as acne and polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS); fertility care and IVF; pregnancy and the postpartum period; and perimenopause and menopause. It also addresses symptom recognition, urgent and emergency care, family health history and inherited risk, online health information, and the different roles of clinical evidence and personal stories.

“Clear information can help women make informed health decisions and recognize when to seek care,” said Vian Nguyen, MD, FACOG, medical advisor to the Rowan Foundation. “This report also gives healthcare professionals a practical view of what patients and families need from these conversations.”

The report builds on the Rowan Foundation’s work since 2013 to improve awareness of blood clots connected to women’s health. It is being released in advance of World Thrombosis Day, observed annually on Oct. 13. The 2026 global campaign is also emphasizing women’s health across the lifespan, including blood clot risks associated with pregnancy, hormonal therapies, and reproductive health conditions.

The Rowan Foundation will use the insights reflected in its “Voices to Practice” report to guide future patient-informed education, communications, and programming.

Read “Voices to Practice.”

ABOUT THE ROWAN FOUNDATION
The Rowan Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving awareness of blood clots connected to women’s health. Its work helps women understand risk, recognize possible symptoms, consider their options and take part in informed conversations with their healthcare teams across contraception and other hormonal treatments, fertility care, pregnancy and menopause. Learn more at www.alexrowanfoundation.org.

Lisa Fullam
Rowan Foundation
Lisa4LFA@outlook.com
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