I recently read a USA Today entitled "Some doctors join Facebook, Twitter; others wary," which has sparked another debate about health care going digital. Dr. Jeff Livingston, a certified obstetrician and gynecologist, is using social media to promote his practice, MacArthur OB/GYN, and create a public platform for a subject matter that quite often is stigmatized as too confidential and personal to discuss. As he notes in the article, he isn't publishing personal health information online, but instead shares helpful articles and advice that he believes would benefit his followers and fans. 
Archive for the ‘Women's Health’ Category
Jon
Mandel
Mandel
Fulk
Building a Home Away from Home: Ronald McDonald House Comes to Charlotte, NC
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010When I think of Ronald McDonald, I don't necessarily think of high fashion or health and well-being. What does come to mind is an awful color combination of red and yellow and high cholesterol (despite the new healthy menu items).However, that wasn't the case at last week's Girls Night Out event for the Charlotte Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Charlotte, NC. 
RMHs provide housing for more than 10,000 families each day at minimal costs while their children are being treated at nearby hospitals and medical facilities.
So, my girlfriends and I threw on our heels and cocktail dresses and enjoyed an evening of networking, drinks, food and fashion to benefit the Charlotte RMH. The best part of the evening was hearing the personal stories of moms whose families stayed at a RMH while their children were sick. The main message that each woman shared was that the RMH was a home away from home— a place where their children could play and forget about their worries and they could connect with other parents who were in similar situations.
To some, the arrival of the Charlotte RMH couldn't have come soon enough. With two hospital systems (Levine Children’s Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center and the Hemby Children’s Hospital at Presbyterian Hospital) dedicated to pediatric care, Charlotte was the only major U.S. city to not have a RMH.
The roughly 35,000-square-foot house, scheduled to open in early 2011, will provide about 30 suites for families of seriously ill children seeking medical care at the hospitals, as well as a family room, a great room, a learning center, a playground and a porch.
When my girlfriends and I stepped through the doors at Girls Night Out, we weren't expecting to take home much except maybe a silent auction prize. However, we left feeling a great sense of pride for our community and a desire to dedicate our time to making families feel welcome while they're staying at the Charlotte RMH.
If you'd like to donate or get involved with your local house, please visit www.rmhc.org.
Doody
Online Infertility Community Celebrates National Awareness Week
Friday, April 30th, 2010“My face-to-face world was just too damn silent about infertility,” leading blogger Melissa Ford said as she reflected on her personal infertility journey during the National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) briefing on Capitol Hill this week. When she turned online for support, she found “a network of 2300+ bloggers all writing about their experience, exchanging information, giving support.” 
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Brown
National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010This May marks the 50th anniversary of The Pill: a medical breakthrough that symbolized the importance of women's health and independence during a time of social and political unrest in America. Considered one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, it should be celebrated and simultaneously contextualized with today's issues. Therefore, as media outlets, pundits and historians discuss the importance of the birth control pill, there is another topic this May that deserves equal attention in this contraception discussion: The National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. 
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Sellers
Kathy Griffin’s “Smear Campaign” – Are NBC’s “Public Health Messages” Just a Gimmick for Ratings?
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Over the past 10 years, NBC has leveraged the opportunity of invasive, on-air medical procedures to boost ratings - even for shows that didn't really need it - aka The TODAY Show. It was more than 10 years ago that then-American sweetheart Katie Couric underwent a broadcast-version of a colonoscopy to raise awareness about the need for colon cancer prevention and detection after her husband, Jay Monahan, died from the disease. Well, if it was a ploy for ratings, it worked. But, the segment, which lasted for more than eight minutes on the most-watched morning show, succeeded in raising awareness of colon cancer and the need for early disease detection. More than a decade later, people are still talking about it, still watching the YouTube video, and the on-air procedure helped to contribute to the spike in the number of colonoscopies performed since then. (more...)
Harris
Women's Wednesday: To Pump or Not to Pump...That is a Mother's Question
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010Along with many other ideas about the joys of motherhood, the concept of breast-feeding is a conflicting issue. While many women breast-feed for the benefits to their child or the closeness they feel to their new baby, others find it to be time-consuming and even painful.
Data suggests that about 43 percent of U.S. mothers do at least some breast-feeding, and only about 12 percent breast-feed up to the age of six months, the recommended minimum length. However, a new study published in Pediatrics revealed that nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women fed their babies only breast milk for the first six months of life. The publication of this study followed the new health care reform bill, which includes a provision that large employers will now be required to provide private places for working mothers to pump breast milk. 
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