Can women's network activities lead to improved health?

The aim of our study was to focus on women's networks in the Swedish county of Jamtland, and to analyse the relationship between network activities an d the perceived health among the network participants, as well as participa tion in the community among its residents. Questionnaires were distributed to all 68 women's networks and 60 responded. The results show that the netw ork activities correlate with an improved perception of health, as well as with increased participation in the community among the residents. The more support, influence, self-reliance and trust in the future experienced by t he networks through their work, the better the health among the participant s in the network. The greater the self-reliance, trust in the future, amoun t of network-related unpaid work and new jobs, the better the participation among the community residents. Despite its limitations, our study suggests that women's networks could have an important role in health promotion wit hin the framework of the new public health. The network model, with its bot tom-up strategy, could be useful in public health, provided that networking is not used to fill a gap when there are cuts in the public sector.