Women’s Health Month is here. It’s celebrated through May. Women’s Health Month also includes Women’s Health Week, May 12-19. And it’s no coincidence that Women’s Health Week starts on Sunday, May 12: Mother’s Day!
No matter the care you provide, if you’re a woman in healthcare, this is a perfect opportunity to offer your unique perspective and contributions to education about women’s health and the resources available to your female patients and colleagues.
Women face many unique health challenges. When you’re a woman in a healthcare profession, including nursing, physical therapy, and mental health counseling, being a source of both information and leadership by example can be empowering for others.
You can offer career guidance to new providers in your field, such as ensuring they have their own nursing insurance coverage when they start a new job. This not only protects their career, it can protect their mental health if that career is ever in jeopardy, and that’s all part of Health Month.
So how else can you, as a woman in healthcare, shine a spotlight on women’s health this May?
Preventive Measures
As a healthcare professional, you know how crucial prevention can be. This can apply to the entire spectrum of health and wellness. However, it’s easy to forget how important it is—and how simple it can be to put in motion. Small, consistent steps can lead to huge, lasting results.
This Women’s Health Month is the perfect time to talk about putting preventive measures into motion. Awareness is key. There are so many things women can do to take control of their health and wellness destiny. If you ensure you are making and sticking to your regular exams and check-ups, be sure you are always counseling your patients and colleagues to do the same.
As a healthcare professional, you likely take your own preventative measures to secure your career. Healthcare professions can be extremely intense, which can lead to increased stress. Mitigating some of that stress is down to diet and exercise, but it can also be down to maintaining malpractice insurance for nurses, physical therapists, and other healthcare providers.
Getting Specific
One of the leading health issues facing women today is heart disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate it affects nearly 22% of the US female population. Heart disease can be caused by a huge list of factors, like the stress mentioned above—but in many cases, it can be prevented.
Prevention can start with information. This month can be an opportunity to talk more about monitoring blood pressure, staying informed about cholesterol/triglyceride levels, and even—surprise!—stress management techniques. When women stay informed about their bodies, it can be easier to put preventative measures into place.
Is your blood pressure trending upward? It might mean it’s time for more physical activity (such as daily walks, hikes, or bike rides). Is your LDL cholesterol number increasing? It can be useful to examine your diet—along with boosting physical activity.
Renewing the Focus on Mental Health, Too
Physical health and wellness often take up most of the spotlight. However, it can be just as important to bring mental health into the discussion of women’s health topics. As an aside, May is also National Mental Health Awareness Month.
Just like physical health concerns, like heart disease and cancer, it’s crucial to talk about mental health issues and bring more awareness to related topics, such as anxiety and depression. It can also be crucial to discuss how these issues can manifest differently in women than they do in men. Female healthcare professionals can help bring awareness to this by being open about their own mental healthcare, including how they protect their careers with liability insurance for counselors or nurses in order to relieve certain stresses of their jobs.
Mental health can be hard to talk about. Some women may feel stigmatized or isolated in relation to their mental health concerns unless they are talking to someone who has been through something similar. The more we talk about it openly and acknowledge that help is available, the sense of stigmatization or isolation has the potential to fade.
Original Source: https://bit.ly/3WgXKbz
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