All About Her

by Juliet Porton

June 24, 2013
in Feature, Monthly

North Bay hospitals have begun developing creative programs to deliver health and wellness education to women at all stages of their lives.

While women are often the first line of defense in getting medical care for members of their families, they’re also notorious for being so busy caring for others that they neglect to take time for themselves and to learn about preventive measures that will keep them well. North Bay hospitals, having long-since noticed the trend, have begun developing creative programs to deliver health and wellness education to women at all stages of their lives.

The following are just a few good examples of local programs and events that are bringing health education to women in unexpectedly convenient ways, because, who knows? One night out with the girls, or a click of a mouse, might just save your life.

Kaiser Permanente’s Women’s Night Out

Back in 2006, a women’s health task force from Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, made up of front line staff, health educators, management, physicians and nurse practitioners, was searching for a way to expand its health education offerings to women and the community. The result was Women’s Night Out, a series of evening get-togethers where women can relax and learn about topics that directly affect their health and well-being.

For the first event in 2007, fitness guru and longtime radio personality Joanie Greaggins presented an easily modified exercise routine and tips for women to stay active at all ages. Since then, other topics have included menopause, female sexuality through the years, the benefits of a plant-based diet and meditation for emotional health. Themes are chosen based on requests from the previous year’s participants, current events in the community and feedback from Kaiser’s physicians about their patients’ needs and concerns.

Colleen Boden, service unit manager for Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, co-leads the Women’s Night Out events with Nancy Bouffard, MPH, MSW, assistant health education manager. “With Women’s Night Out, our goal is to inspire, inform and improve women’s health and well-being, and we continue to fulfill that vision each year,” she says.

These evenings are free and open to the public, whether you’re a Kaiser member or not. They take place four times per year at Kaiser’s Santa Rosa campus, except for one, which is conducted in Spanish at Sheppard Elementary School in Santa Rosa, to encourage women from the surrounding neighborhood to participate. Events are designed to accommodate 100 guests and have drawn mostly packed houses since the beginning.

They’re hosted in partnership with the YMCA of Sonoma County, whose staff members lead a brief stretch break midway through each discussion to get the participants moving and model healthy behaviors. They also include a pre-presentation “Healthy Zone,” where women can enjoy refreshments, connect with community resources and find relevant books or products for purchase.

While the events are advertised in the community, including through the YMCA and Kaiser physician referrals, Boden is seeing a lot of familiar faces after seven years, as women are recognizing the value of this type of health education and coming back time after time. They’re also realizing that learning about their health doesn’t have to be a chore to face alone.

“We all have a lot of demands on us, whether we’re working in or outside the home and caring for our kids or our parents,” she says. “It can be a treat to say that, ‘Yes, my health is important to me and I’m going to take this evening out to learn about health education and prevention—and also have a little bit of fun.’”

At an event in May, Kaiser’s chief of sports medicine, Todd Weitzenberg, M.D. discussed how to use different types of exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Coming up on October 18, Kaiser physician Margaret Marquez, M.D. will be speaking on the challenges of the “sandwich generation,” those women squeezed by the demands of caring for their children and parents at the same time. On November 3, local author and sex educator Joan Price will be sharing information on sex and sexuality for women over 50.

Sutter Health’s Women’s Health Series

A soothing chair massage, skincare tips from the beauty experts at Macy’s, wines from Graton Ridge Cellars and healthy, delicious food from Chloe’s French Cafe in Santa Rosa: It could be a spa day, or it could be the demonstration area before one of Sutter Health’s Women’s Health Series events.

Sutter Health, which includes Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa and Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation, has developed its own popular outreach program to deliver women’s health education in a fun and safe environment. The Women’s Health Series invites women from throughout the community to come learn about health topics affecting their lives and ask questions of medical professionals, all at no charge.

“It’s truly a girls’ night out, where we can have fun and be educated about our health at the same time,” says Lisa Amador, a strategy and business development executive for Sutter Heath in Santa Rosa. Guests experience healthy living techniques—like exercise, massage and healthy eating—before sitting down to a presentation and Q&A with medical experts.

At an event in May at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, Sutter physicians Ashley Weinert, M.D., Jeannie Pflum, M.D. and Susie Dehnad, M.D., spoke on handling the hormonal and physiological changes that arise during perimenopause and menopause. Discussions will focus on bone health in September and breast health in October. The Women’s Health Series is offered in conjunction with Sutter Health’s website designed specifically for women, My Life Stages, which offers interactive health and wellness tools and resources such as expert blogs, videos, free risk assessments and a medical library.

“Often, women are the last ones to think about themselves and their own health. But the more we know, the better we are at taking care of ourselves and our families,” says Amador. “The site is a simple way for women to find resources and keep a record and connection to their personal health.”

Sutter also offers numerous classes and complementary therapies for women through its well-known Breast Center (formerly the Women’s Health Center), which moved to Sutter’s North Bay health plaza on Airway Drive (near Kohl’s) in Santa Rosa in February.

Women’s Health at Memorial (WHAM)

St. Joseph Health’s Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa has a long history of reaching out to underserved populations in the community to improve access to health care. It’s now home to an innovative philanthropic group that’s found a way to combine health education for its members with a mission to support women’s health issues in Sonoma County.

Modeled after a successful program at El Camino Hospital in Redwood City, Women’s Health at Memorial Hospital (WHAM) is a women-focused annual giving group that began in 2009. Members have one thing in common: their dedication to improving the health and well being of other women through collaborative philanthropy.

WHAM members pay a $500 minimum contribution annually, which is then pooled collectively. The group’s steering committee invites requests for funding from women’s health programs through Memorial Hospital that meet the group’s criteria. Every October, representatives of those programs make presentations to WHAM members and, in December, the membership votes on which programs to fund the following year.

Kris Wilson, director of development and campaign manager at Memorial Hospital, believes the program is helping to create a new breed of female philanthropists, bringing women together with a shared goal. “The annual commitment is an opportunity for women who don’t necessarily have the capacity to give large gifts and yet want to be involved in philanthropy,” she says. “By pooling our funds, we can make a greater impact.” The group gathered 40 members in its first year and finished 2012 with 65 members.

Since 2009, WHAM has raised more than $140,000 for programs and equipment directly benefiting women in the community. Some grants are given for ongoing programs, while others are for one-time events or equipment purchases.

For example, the group has helped fund St. Joseph’s mobile health van for several years, which operates throughout Sonoma County. It’s also helped launch additional monthly events through the mobile van dedicated to women’s health and funded additional screening tools for breast cancer, hypertension, bone density loss and diabetes. A new grief support group for women who’ve lost a child was also created last year, thanks to WHAM’s support. The St. Joseph dental clinic has received grant support, and equipment for the neonatal intensive care unit was purchased with donated funds.

Beyond allocating their charitable dollars, the members’ quarterly meetings give them an opportunity to listen to presentations by local medical professionals on various health topics, as voted on by the membership. In the past, topics have included heart disease in women, how to beat depression and stress, the latest in breast cancer treatments, diabetes and healthy communication strategies. Events are held at wineries, private homes or, in the case of a discussion on women in emergency services, at the REACH Air Medical Services headquarters in Santa Rosa. Attendees share wine, food and conversation before getting down to business. Community members interested in learning more about the group can contact Wilson at any time, or are welcome at one of the open membership events scheduled for February and April of 2014.

“WHAM is all about learning about health issues for ourselves and our families, learning about the health needs in our community, and becoming mentors for younger women who haven’t yet embraced philanthropy,” says Wilson. “These are women who don’t necessarily know each other, but who collectively share their passion and interest to be around like-minded, dynamic, smart women who want to do something for the women in our community.”

Queen of the Valley: Reaching out to mothers

St. Joseph Health Queen of the Valley Medical Center (“the Queen”) in Napa is also actively involved in improving the lives of women in the community it serves. While most area hospitals have programs for pregnant and postnatal women, the Queen’s wide array of community outreach programs for mothers are a great example of how hospitals can make women’s lives easier by making health resources as accessible as possible.

Connie Evans, coordinator of health education and perinatal outreach (generally defined as the period of pregnancy and through one year postpartum) at the Queen, believes it’s critical to remove as many of the barriers as possible that keep women from accessing health care and early intervention programs. These barriers may include lack of insurance, financial constraints, language, lack of childcare and transportation concerns. With these in mind, the Queen offers a range of services for pregnant and postpartum women, many of which are low-cost or free, whether or not women deliver at the hospital.

Services include exercise classes for pregnant and postpartum women available at Synergy, a medical fitness center operated by the hospital. Women can participate in prenatal water aerobics, pregnant or postpartum exercise classes, and perinatal yoga. Babies are welcome in the aerobic and yoga classes up to about six months, or when they’re crawling, and mothers don’t need to be members at Synergy to join in.

While pregnant and postpartum women are routinely screened for depression through their obstetric and pediatric providers, any woman can access the licensed marriage family therapist (MFT) at Community Outreach for short-term counseling free of charge, as well as receive referrals to partnering agencies in the community. It’s also teamed up with Napa Valley Public Health and Aldea Children & Family Services of Napa on the Fussy Baby Program, an affiliate of the national Fussy Baby Network. Any parents who think their baby is particularly fussy can call a hotline to speak with someone and request a home visit. This program, which is free of charge and has no eligibility criteria, is designed to reduce stress, support parents and get families off to the best possible start.

Another hurdle for new mothers can be paying for and installing her baby’s car seat. The Queen administers a free car seat distribution program for low-income families and employs a bilingual, certified car seat technician, who makes appointments with parents at the hospital to check installations and participates in car seat checks at community events. Community Outreach also offers a wide array of childbirth preparation classes, breastfeeding support groups and other prenatal classes for expectant and new parents. Some of the more unique classes include infant massage, boot camp for dads, and partners-to-parents.

Staff members of the health education program often go offsite to lead classes on health, nutrition, stress reduction and other topics. Many of these classes are offered in English and Spanish, and have been held in schools, community rooms of lower-income housing developments and Head Start classrooms, to name just a few places. A series of cooking classes called “Cooking Matters” are also offered in the community. The class meets with a volunteer chef and dietician once a week for six weeks, learning how to choose and prepare healthier meals for themselves and their families.

“The pregnant and postpartum period is a time when women are open to making positive lifestyle changes; they’re often seeking information and willing to listen and apply what they’ve learned,” Evans says. She believes that these outreach opportunities can have a positive, long-term effect on the health of women, children and families in our community.

Pass it on

By finding new ways to deliver health education to local women, these hospitals are doing more than just targeting one segment of our community. “Women are often the primary caregivers and decision makers in families when it comes to health,” says Boden. “By reaching out and educating them on these health topics, we know they’ll bring that information home and it can trickle down to their husbands, partners, children, extended family and friends.” Organizers of these programs are hoping that what participants are learning about their health will literally change their lives, and their communities, for the better.