The North Florida Regional Medical Center sponsored its second annual Women and Wellness symposium on May 4, which was well-received by local residents. This symposium, just in time for National Women’s Health Week May 12 – 18, focused on women’s health issues such as bone, breast and heart health, and the importance of exercising and relieving stress.
All About Women was well-represented at the symposium by Drs. Agrios and Cook. In a May 6 Gainesville Sun article, Dr. Anthony Agrios stated: “Women are busier now than ever before. They don’t give enough time to taking care of themselves.” He also said, “Focusing on their health will help with everything else.”
As wives and mothers, we tend to do for others but not ourselves. As working moms, we are great at multi-tasking and managing others’ problems, but we don’t always take care of our health as well as we should. What we don’t always recognize at the surface level is that taking care of our health benefits other aspects of our lives as Dr. Agrios points out.
Although the symposium targeted middle-aged women and up, it also helped younger women interested in learning about their aging mothers.
The 14th annual National Women’s Health Week kicks off on Mother’s Day, May 12, 2013, and is celebrated until May 18, 2013.
What is National Women’s Health Week?
National Women’s Health Week is coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health. It brings together communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups in an effort to promote women’s health and its importance. It is a weeklong effort to empower women to make their health a priority and encourage them to take the following five steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases:
- Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings.
- Get active.
- Eat healthy.
- Pay attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress.
- Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet, and texting while driving.
National Women’s Checkup Day is Monday, May 13, 2013.
As part of National Women’s Health Week, National Women’s Checkup Day is a nationwide effort that has two main purposes:
- Encourage women to call and visit health care professionals to schedule and receive checkups; and
- Promote regular checkups as vital to the early detection of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health illnesses, sexually transmitted infections, and other conditions.
Regular checkups provide a number of benefits to women:
- Screening tests, such as mammograms and Pap tests, can find diseases early, when they are easier to treat. Some women need certain screening tests earlier or more often than other women do. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, women can now receive these types of preventive screenings without copays.
- Screenings and routine care can help women lower their risks of many health conditions, including heart disease.
There are several ways for women to participate in National Women’s Checkup Day:
- Contacting their current health care professionals to schedule checkups or visiting to get important screenings on National Women’s Checkup Day.
- Discussing with their health care professionals which screenings and tests are right for them and when and how often they should have them.
- Learning which screening and immunizations they need and at what age to get them.
- Reviewing the list of 22 preventive services for women covered under the Affordable Care Act.
- Taking the Checkup Day Pledge and pledging to schedule at least one preventive health screening during May 2013.
Throughout the months of May and June, events will be held nationwide to help celebrate women’s health, including events located in Florida.
This Mother’s Day, show your mother how much you love her by reminding her that Monday is National Women’s Checkup Day and encouraging her to schedule an appointment today for a checkup.
We encourage you to celebrate the health of women of all ages in your lives. Feel free to contact us with any questions, or schedule an appointment with All About Women in Gainesville or Lake City today.
