Hospital to offer new events for women
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on December 26, 2010 1:50 AM
Women are often the ones guarding the family's health, so should do everything possible to secure their own, hospital officials say.
"Women are kind of the health care consumers for their family -- it's the moms that take their children to the doctor or nag their husbands to go to the doctor, they're sort of the gatekeepers," said Kristine Oakley, supervisor of clinical operations at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
Back in November, the hospital hosted a "women's night out" that focused on a universal topic, incontinence, while providing such amenities as chocolate and free massages.
It was such a success, Ms. Oakley said, that the hospital decided to expound upon the idea by offering a series of free women's health seminars in the new year.
"We hope to do something quarterly, at least to get it going," she said.
"The hospital has a lot of different programs and resources out there. People may not even know all the support groups we have, for those who have had a stroke, Mended Hearts for heart attack victims, Better Breathers for those with lung disease, and a diabetes support group."
Organizers are still working out the details, but indicated that the initial focus will be a relevant one.
"New Year's is coming up and what's the No. 1 resolution? 'I'm going to lose weight, I'm going to get in shape.' That's kind of broad," Ms. Oakley said.
Topic for the introductory session, planned for Feb. 8 from 5:30-7 in the hospital cafeteria, is "The Big Fat Lie."
There are a lot of myths and "big lies" surrounding the whole concept of weight gain and weight loss, the registered nurse said.
"People say they're too old to start exercising, and yet there are chair exercises," she said. "Smokers say they'll gain weight it they stop smoking, or others taking a pill to lose weight.
"Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women. It's not breast cancer. I think some people think that's a man's problem, that's a man's disease."
The idea for the seminar will be to provide information in an interesting and interactive way.
"It will not just be a typical health fair," said Amy Cain, director of public relations for the hospital. "We want it to be fun and engaging."
Among the proposed ideas for the first session are demonstrations on healthy cooking and workouts.
"We want to have a lot of local experts on hand to help people with making healthy choices," Ms. Cain said.