Facebook Pixel

Comment Reply

You have a very powerful message, and I'm glad that we have a strong and knowledgeable woman advocating for women's health! I am still surprised when I hear about how many research studies have been conducted with men, only for the findings of the research to be generalized to both men and women (heart disease is one instance). Who knew woman had different symptoms of heart disease, until recently?!

Your point about women not taking time for themselves definitely rang true with me, while putting their family first. I read an article that this home management (whether the woman has kids or not; works outside the home or not) is called the "invisible housework", and many men still are not contributing equally in this area. Invisible housework is the behind-the-scenes management that you mentioned: making doctor appointments, filling prescriptions, following up with phone calls, meal-planning, buying birthday presents for friends/family, etc. These things take time and organization, and also some initial "research", plus usually is more time-sensitive and not as gratifying as mowing the lawn or cleaning the dishes where you see instant results! (ha--I did just say the word "gratifying" and "cleaning the dishes" in one sentence...).

The most difficult part with advocating for ourselves and each other is when we are in the doctor's office, in my opinion. Face-to-face with a person who (we hope) has a lot of knowledge and experience in a particular area. You are half-clothed, nervous, wanting to get out quick, but needing to stay to ask questions. The doctor's hand may even already be on the door handle to escae, and you have to pull out your written list of questions, be OK with a faint sigh, and proceed with asking. It's difficult, and this is if you don't have a diagnosis...just routine questions! I would love for this patient-doctor relationship to change, but how do we create change when health care provider's waiting rooms are filled, they do not have enough time for every patient even it they wanted to, and many are not well-versed on alternative and complementary medicines or the "whole" person to engage in many conversations. I've noticed many of the health care providers whom I really, really liked still are not comfortable talking about emotions, sexuality or diet.

Thanks for sparking a great conversation!

May 10, 2009 - 1:17pm

Reply

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
By submitting this form, you agree to EmpowHER's terms of service and privacy policy