Welcome to the third edition of You and Your Health: A Woman’s Handbook. Demand for the first two editions, distributed primarily through the Screening Mammography Program of BC and doctors’ offices, exceeded 55,000 copies. Requests for the handbook have also poured in from all over North America, plus European countries such as France and Italy.

The success of the handbook is strong proof that as women, we recognize the special nature of our health care needs, which are significantly different from those of men. Because of differences in social and economic status, educational focus, pay rates, and the impact of violence in women’s lives, our health exists in a different social context from men’s health. There are many health issues that are particular to women and that require a special, women-centred approach.

We are living in a time when women want to know more about their bodies and how to take responsibility for their own health, as well as the health of their families. More than ever before, women are becoming informed health care consumers. Health care professionals are learning to respect women’s need for information and their desire to be partners in their own health management.

This is the way of the future for health care and particularly for women’s health care. Historically, women have been in the vanguard of the self-care movement, and we continue to point the way for others to follow.

This is the spirit in which we offer You and Your Health: A Woman’s Handbook. Used wisely, it can help you to become more confident about your ability to make informed lifestyle and health care choices.

Project Sponsors and Partners

This booklet is a project of the B.C. Ministry of Health Planning, Office of the Special Advisor, Women’s and Seniors’ Health (the Office). It is being distributed to women in B.C. through the courtesy of the Screening Mammography Program of B.C. and provincial health authorities.

This Office provides a link between the Ministry of Health, health care providers, and community groups in order to promote a health care system that is sensitive to the needs of women. The Office works to ensure that provincial-level health policies are gender sensitive and helps health authorities develop women-centred policies and services. The bureau also supports a limited number of projects such as research on women’s health issues.

Download You and Your Health: A Woman’s Handbook

PDF format, 2.58MB, 62Pages. BC (British Columbia) Health Planning

Ministry of Health Planning
Office of the Special Advisor, Women’s and Seniors’ Health

Tables of Contents:

INTRODUCTION
Why this booklet? 1
Why focus on women’s health? 1
How to use this book 2
Information contained in this book 3
PART 1: STAYING HEALTHY
Ten Tips For Staying Healthy 5
Feeling Good About Yourself 9
Managing Stress 13
Using Health Care Wisely 15
PART 2: UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH
Addictions 18
Bone Health 20
Cancer 22
Endometriosis 25
Heart Health 27
Menopause 31
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) 33
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) 34
Urinary Incontinence 35
Violence 36
Part 3: PROTECTING YOUR HEALTH
Immunizations 37
Screening Tests 39
- Blood Cholesterol 39
- Blood Pressure 39
- Blood Sugar 40
- Breast Health 40
- Healthy Weight 41
- Pap Test 43
- Pelvic Exam 43
- STDs 43
Part 4: ASSESSING YOUR HEALTH
Personal Health Checklist 44
Part 5: GETTING HELP
General Information 45
Information on Specific Topics 45
Web Sites 48
Specific Issues 49
Further Reading/Resources 50

INTRODUCTION

Why this booklet?

Individual brochures and booklets on breast cancer, osteoporosis, and other women’s health issues are available in a variety of places such as doctors’ offices and health units. However, until now women in B.C. have not had easy access to a comprehensive general guide to staying healthy. This handbook will help fill that need. You and Your Health focuses on preventing, identifying and managing common women’s health concerns and will be widely available in places where women seek preventive health services.

Why focus on women’s health?

Paying special attention to women’s health is important because gender is a determinant of health. Women not only have a different physical makeup from men, they have different life experiences, such as their roles as mothers and family caregivers.

They are more likely to have low incomes and low social status and are more often adversely affected by other determinants of health such as the need for social support. Because of a woman’s role as family caregiver, her health is important not only for her own sake but also for the sake of her family.

Most women in B.C. enjoy good health. However, women have more contact with the health system because they live longer than men, have more care-giving and child-rearing responsibilities, and have more chronic illnesses. Women are also subject to specific health problems such as breast cancer and cancers related to the reproductive system. Some problems, such as heart disease, stress, and sexually transmitted diseases, are associated with environmental and lifestyle factors.

Women can do a great deal to protect their health by learning about positive lifestyle choices and about how to develop healthy living and working environments. Other risks, such as sexual assault and relationship violence, are associated with women’s social roles and personal relationships. For women, recognizing the dynamics of an unhealthy intimate relationship may be a matter of life and death.

Some aspects of women’s health (menopause and reproduction, for example) may be over-medicalized, and women often want to know about non-medical approaches to these issues. On the other hand, some women’s health concerns are minimized and discounted as emotional. Women need to know more about the possible reasons for their concerns and about gender-sensitive treatment. Sometimes, such as in women’s cancers, early detection is the key to leading longer, healthier lives. In these cases, women need information about which tests are necessary and reliable.

This handbook helps to fill a need for reliable information about women’s health. The information included here is based on scientific studies and well-established concepts, and qualified health professionals have checked it for accuracy.

How to use this book

This book is a tool to help you stay healthy. It shows you what you can do to develop the basic elements of a healthy lifestyle.

It will help you to understand potential health risks and how you can offset those risks by being alert to your body and making positive choices. It will also help you to follow up on any potential problems with appropriate methods of early detection. To make best use of this handbook, read it through and become familiar with the general concepts. Then go back to any sections you feel are important for you and study them more intensively.

If you have a family history of heart disease or cancer, for example, you will probably want to become familiar with recommended preventive strategies. Everyone can benefit from a careful study of the opening section on guidelines for a healthy lifestyle.

Information contained in this book

This booklet contains information on a selection of women’s health topics. The following are also sources of valuable health information for you and your family:

• BC HealthGuide Handbook offers useful advice and information on more than 190 common health concerns, as well as valuable tips on preventing illness or using home remedies. A new companion guide, the BC First Nations Health Handbook, is also available.

• BC HealthFiles are a series of fact sheets that provide information on common illnesses, plus other health and safety tips. Visit the Web site at www.bchealthguide.org

• BC HealthGuide OnLine links British Columbians with a world of up-to-date, reliable health information on more than 2,500 common health topics, tests, procedures and other resources.

• BC NurseLine provides health information and advice through a toll-free telephone line, staffed by registered nurses. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Translation services are also available in 130 languages.

Within Greater Vancouver: (604) 215-4700
Toll-free elsewhere within B.C.: 1-866-215-4700
Deaf and hearing-impaired toll-free throughout B.C.:
1-866-889-4700

For additional information on women’s health resources, see Part 5: Getting Help, in this handbook.

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