Hormones, From Puberty to Post-Menopause
The post below originally ran on HuffPost Healthy Living. If you’re a woman, you probably know that our bodies go through myriad changes during the course of our lives. Hormones play an integral role in those changes at each stage of development, from puberty to post-menopause. This is the first in a four-part series the Society For Women’s Health Research (SWHR®) will be publishing about hormones across the lifespan — read on to learn more! What exactly are hormones? The Virginia Women’s Center offers a good definition: A hormone is a “chemical communicator or connector” that carries messages to and from all ...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 18, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Aging Women's Health Source Type: blogs

Learn or Die!
This post originally appeared on The Timmerman Report and then ran on Venture Valkyrie. I have a new favorite TV show: Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. Ferguson is a irreverent, sometimes raunchy Scottish comedian who used to host the Late Late Show alongside his skeleton puppet sidekick Geoff.   Join or Die airs Thursdays at 11 pm on the History Channel, which is your first clue that this isn’t your run of the mill late night talk show. The premise of Join or Die, named after Ferguson’s tattoo, is that four people, a random assortment of comedians, actors, historians and scientists plus Ferguson, debate a historic q...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 17, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Consumer Health Care Quality Source Type: blogs

March Man of the Month: Congressman John Dingell
It’s impossible to paint the full picture of retired Congressman John Dingell’s career achievements – an anthology of feats that distinguished his record 59-year career in the House of Representatives and paved the way for numerous accolades and recognition. But here’s a snapshot. Since he was elected into office in 1955, taking over his father’s Michigan district seat, Congressman Dingell was one of our nation’s fiercest advocates for medical progress. He served alongside 11 Presidents, always focused on the effort that health care is a right, not a privilege. He fought for the elderly and universal coverage. ...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 16, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Man of the Month Source Type: blogs

The Evolution of the Nursing Uniform and Gender Roles
The nursing field is a microcosm of gender inequality in the workplace. For example, although women make up over 90% of the professional nursing workforce, they still get paid $0.91 cents to the dollar a male nurse makes. But pushing for greater equality has proven difficult, in part because of the way nurses are viewed. From “sexy nurse” Halloween costumes to angelic depictions of the classic “caretaker”, perception of nurses capabilities are significantly impacted by traditional gender roles. The evolution of nursing uniforms infographic from Nursing@Simmons below isn’t just about nurses;...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 14, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Nurses Source Type: blogs

Sleep And Health/Tech – It’s National Sleep Awareness Week
The post below originally ran on Health Populi on March 9. One in three people suffer from some form of insomnia in the U.S. With sleep a major contributor to health and wellness, we recognize it’s National Sleep Awareness Week. As a health economist, I’m well aware of sleep’s role in employee productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism. U.S. companies lose 11.3 days of lost work performance per person who suffers from insomnia, according to research from a Harvard-based team published in the journal Sleep. The cost of this to U.S. business is about $63 billion annually. Science writers at the BBC developed a long lis...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 11, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Consumer Health Care Source Type: blogs

TBT: Which is More Uncomfortable – The Colonoscopy or Treatment for Colon Cancer?
March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month, today’s TBT post provides some helpful information on colorectal cancer. Michelle was a healthy, active 47 year old. She tried to eat right and she exercised. It looked like the hard work was paying off: no health issues and lots of energy. Her work in the healthcare field motivated her to see her doctors regularly for checkups, to get mammograms and to have her blood work done annually. She knew she was getting close to the magical age of 50 and that soon she would need to get a colonoscopy to screen for colorectal cancer.  Since she had no family history of the disease she wa...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 10, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Cancer TBT Source Type: blogs

Take Your Own Advice! U.S. Should Pay More Attention to STD Prevention Programs Abroad
Most sexually transmitted diseases are preventable. That’s one reason it’s so upsetting that one in four sexually active girls in the United States has one. Out of the 19 million new STD cases annually in the U.S., almost half are among people ages 15 to 24. And those statistics only represent the number of reported cases; many more infections go undocumented. Despite the clear need for STD prevention strategies among young people, current efforts are scattered and inconsistent across the U.S. While 23 states require sex education, only 13 states require that the information be “medically accurate.” Even when sex e...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 9, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Advocacy Global Health Publc Health Source Type: blogs

We Could All Use a Dose of Eleanor Roosevelt’s Genius
Over the weekend, Disruptive Women in Health Care posted this on Facebook:  “To celebrate National Women’s History Month and the 2016 theme Honoring Women in Public Service and Government today we honor Eleanor Roosevelt as a woman we love.” She is a perfect choice for this year’s theme. The post continues,“…she was a leader in her own right…an early champion of civil rights, an advocate for women, American workers, the poor and young people. Roosevelt encouraged her husband to appoint more women to federal positions and held hundreds of press conferences for female reporters when women were typically banned...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 7, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Advocacy Source Type: blogs

Getting Under Your Skin
People are sharing their stories. Thanks to the internet, these personal narratives can be accessed instantaneously across the globe. Reading, hearing, and watching the stories of others helps close the gaps between us, formed by private experiences. But, let’s take it one step further. Let’s mix disconnected communities and fuse them through a process of writing and sharing stories through performance. Vicki Bello, Cyndi Amaya, David Daza and I are launching this concept at  LaGuardia Community College.  Women veterans and civilian women will participate in a writing/performance workshop. Under the guidance...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 4, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Women Veterans Source Type: blogs

The Value Dilemma
Today’s post first ran on Women of Impact on February 24. The oft-used phrase, “from volume to value,” was coined here in Pittsburgh by our own Harold Miller as the title of a framing paper for our first of three Payment Reform summits. It clearly had resonance. I hear it in every venue where health reform advocates gather. “Value” is hot, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is moving rapidly to a value-based payment system in which provider payments are linked to quality and costs. Purchasers demand value. Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) promise to deliver value. But I am...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 3, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Health Reform Quality Source Type: blogs

Getting Beyond Baby Blues: The Importance of Screening for Postpartum Depression
In January, when attention focused on the need for postpartum depression screening because of a recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of physicians and epidemiologists that develops recommendations for clinical preventive services, I was both relieved and concerned. As a women’s health advocate and educator I worried that screening could contribute to further pathologizing women’s experiences, especially when they are connected to their reproductive lives. I also feared that Big Pharma wanted to cash in, and that fetal effects from antidepressant medication might be unduly mini...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 2, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Childbirth Women's Health Postpartum depression United States Preventive Services Task Force Source Type: blogs

Today we disrupt HIMSS16
Our HIMSS16 panel is TODAY from 2:30—3:45pm PT. If you aren’t attending follow @disruptivewomen, #HIMSS16 and #WomeninHIT on Twitter for live updates. Moderator: Robin Strongin, Founder, Disruptive Women in Health Care Panelists: Darla Brown Founder & CEO Intake.Me Nancy Green Global Practice Lead – Healthcare Strategy & Thought Leadership Verizon Enterprise Solutions Celia Pohani Huber Director, Silicon Valley Office Leader, Women’s Initiative McKinsey & Company Susan Philip Healthcare Management Consultant Milliman, Inc Siv Sambasivam Head of Business Development GoodRx Lisa Suennen Partner Ventu...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 1, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: HIT/Health Gaming Source Type: blogs

A Change Agent’s Journey to Meditation
Mindfulness and meditation are hot topics today and as disruptive women this can be a stealth but potent weapon in our professional missions to affect change.   The key is knowledge about the power of meditation as a change-agent and leadership tool and then, of course, practicing meditation consistently. The reality is that many of us find it hard to meditate, despite the research showing it’s beneficial physiological, emotional effects. It refreshes us, helps us settle into what’s happening now, reduces our blood pressure, and makes us wiser, more alert and calmer at the same time. But if you’re still looking to ...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 29, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Alternative Medicine Women's Health Source Type: blogs

You’re invited to the Next Event in our Aging Audaciously Series: Prevention Wisdom Kicked Up A Notch
We all age.  We cannot prevent that. But we can prevent some disease and injury. What steps can we take to prevent cancer, or recurrence of cancer, sun-downing associated with dementia, and injury later in life? Prevention can incorporate many pathways, including diet, exercise, sleep and home modifications (including design and lighting). What can individuals and families do now?  What best practices are out there at the intersection of health, spirituality, architecture, design, and prevention? SPEAKERS: Opening Remarks: Lisa McGovern, Executive Director, Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Program of the Preven...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 26, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Aging Cancer Source Type: blogs

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
You don’t have to look far in the business of health to find rampant sexism. If you were at JP Morgan, you couldn’t miss the story about LifeSci Advisors’ party, where they hired a cadre of beautiful female models to keep the predominantly male partygoers company, ostensibly because they couldn’t find enough professional women to invite to make the room feel equal. Such a ruckus ensued afterwards that the LifeSci Advisors team issued an apology to party attendees (see their somewhat desperate-sounding apology letter below), after first firmly insisting that the ruckus wasn’t merited.   My friend Nancy had a hil...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 25, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Advocacy Source Type: blogs