National Women’s Health week rolls around every year in May, and educates, encourages and empowers women to take steps to reclaim and improve their overall health. 2024 brings the twenty-fourth celebration and awareness event. This week of recognition and education is sponsored and backed by many organizations, including The United States Department of Health and Human Services which leads the entire week.
During the month, the Office for Women’s affairs lines up many important key note speakers who take the time to share stories, medical information and updates on testing. This week addresses many conditions, illnesses, diseases and life-long cancers that affect women. Some of those specific conditions are:
- Diabetes
- Cancer & Female Cancers
- Heart Disease
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Pre- & Peri-menopause
- Menstruation
- Mental health
- Birth control
- Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
- Endometriosis
- Stroke
- Heart Attack
- Osteoporosis
- Rheumatoid diseases
- Anemia
This is not a complete list of all the medical issues, conditions and troubles covered during Women’s Health week.
What steps can you take to ensure your overall health gets better?
There are a multitude of ways you can make moves to better your overall physical, mental and emotional health. Here are some of the ways you can take action to make these important changes today!
- Get active! Every day make it a point to be up and active for at least thirty minutes! This could be as simple as taking a walk, inside or outside of your house, or even doing exercises in your chair!
- Eat healthy! Rainbows are not only beautiful but show you all the colors you should be eating. Include fresh, wholesome vegetables, fruits and quality protein in your diet every day. Reduce your sugar and alcohol intake.
- Visit your doctors regularly and schedule your yearly “well-woman” checkups, preventative screenings and get any vaccines or booster shots you may need.
- Pay attention to your mental health, including anxiety and depression.
- Avoid unhealthy behaviors and addictions like tobacco, alcohol, smoking, and drugs. This also includes behaviors that put you at unnecessary risk each day like testing while driving, not wearing seatbelts or avoiding the use of bicycle helmets when riding bikes or motorcycles. In some cases, this could mean skipping your needed medications as well.
Not only do this things help to ensure you are living life to the fullest at the best health you can, these steps will help you build a foundation of health for yourself for life!
How can I track my progress on bettering my health?
These simple categories and checklist can help you determine if you are taking each and every step you should be! This check-list was designed for those women around the age of fifty.
Every day you should try to…
- Eat healthy every day
- Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity
- Get at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep
- Reach and maintain a healthy weight
- Get help to quit or don’t start smoking
- Limit alcohol use to 1 drink or less
- Wear a helmet when riding a bike and wear protective gear for sports
- Wear a seatbelt in cars and not text and drive
- Not use illegal drugs or misuse prescription drugs
You should talk to your doctor at least once per year about…
- Menopause symptoms
- My weight, diet, and physical activity level
- Whether I use tobacco and alcohol
- Any violence in my life
- Depression and any other mental health concerns
- My family health history, especially my cancer risk
Ask your doctor if you need one or more of these things or tests…
- Low-dose aspirin
- Blood pressure
- Chickenpox
- Cholesterol
- Colorectal cancer
- Diabetes
- Flu
- Hepatitis B and hepatitis C
- HIV
- Lung cancer if you are 55 and older; or if you smoke now or quit within the last 15 years
- Mammogram
- Measles, mumps, and rubella
- Osteoporosis for women who have gone through menopause and are at higher risk
- Pap Smear and HPV testing
- Sexually transmitted infection and disease testing
- Tetanus, diphtheria, or whooping cough
- Tuberculosis
I want to participate in Women’s Health Week somehow in my area. How can I do this?
You are more than welcome to help in your area, as there are many local organizations and groups that lead efforts each year. The Office of Women’s Health invites anyone to:
- Take all the above steps for your own health and SHARE this information with all of the women in your life!
- Use your social media accounts and platforms to help spread the word, facts and information about how women can get the healthcare they need. Use hashtags like #NWHW or #NationalWomensHealthWeek or #WhatIWishIdKnown in your posts to help link them all together.
- Attend local events in your area or organize your own!
- Help women in need get to local doctors’ appointments or centers to be tested. Contact your local health department for options to help in this manner in your community.
Women’s Health Week is a vital tool in the ever-growing kit for women to empower themselves with education and knowledge about all aspects of their health. If you or someone you know could benefit from women’s health services, be sure to share information about Women’s Health Week with them! To begin your check-list tasks, make an appointment with your doctor today for your yearly check-up!
Citations:
American Cancer Society
National Institutes of Health and Human Services
Women’s Health