As women continue leading increasingly hectic lives, carting children to soccer games and band practice, earning an income to support their families, looking after aging family members and building a home, personal health issues often fall to the wayside.
With access to an ocean of unfiltered medical advice on the Internet, many women are trying to take a more active role in managing their health, but it is easy to be overwhelmed, said Amelia Craver, a physicians' assistant at The Family Doc in Sanford.
Craver joined four other health care professionals to talk with women about the issues that concern them during an open forum sponsored by the Sanford Business and Professional Women's Club Thursday night.
Jo Jarrett, president of the club, hopes to make the forum an annual event.
"Research shows that women are the primary decision makers when it comes to health care for their families and themselves," Jarrett said. "Most women are the caregiver when a family member falls ill and consequently, we wanted to help women make good decisions.
Joyce Gilmour came to the forum to learn how to coordinate information from the Internet with her doctor's recommendations. Gilmour, 67, said she uses the Internet to get background information about drugs she is prescribed and diseases her doctor warns her of.
"I think people are going to the Internet rather than buying all the stacks of books I bought years ago," Gilmour said. "I Google everything."
Craver said health care discussions are always a two-way street. Patients should always feel comfortable talking with doctors about any health concerns, as well as information they have found online about new drugs or diseases.
Advances in medicine and health care happen so rapidly, sometimes doctors may not be aware of the latest information until a patient brings it up, Craver said.
The Internet has helped open up lines of communication between the medical industry and the general public, Craver said. When patients take initiative and share more information with their doctors, it helps them feel invested in their own health care plans and makes them more likely to stay on track with treatments and preventative programs.
"I think that's really important. People need to feel like they're in charge of their health," Craver said. "It's a partnership."
At the same time, the abundance of information on the Internet makes it easy for people to be misled with clever marketing plans drug manufacturers produce.
"It's like a cyber anxiety," Craver said. "You see a common symptom like fatigue and it rings up things like cancer and other terminal illnesses."
Jarrett hopes the forum will give women the resources they need to take care of themselves while they nurture their families.
"We're just here to help women with real issues that they may be dealing with," she said. To see more of The Sanford Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sanfordherald.com Copyright (c) 2009, Sanford Herald, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, Sanford Herald, N.C.