Empowering young women to use their voices in health care

Women’s voices are finally being elevated on a national level to the prominence they deserve on workplace, political, and social issues. But as a physician (and father of two adult daughters), I’m concerned that women may not feel empowered to use their voices for their own health care. A 2015 survey found that only 22 percent of women in the United States possess health literacy skills, although health literacy is critical to achieve optimal outcomes. Other research suggests women’s physical symptoms are more likely to be interpreted as due to psychological factors than are men’s. Unfortunately, these barriers may materialize at an early age. We recently surveyed young women between the ages of 15-24 regarding their reproductive health, mothers of women in this age group, and physicians, to better understand factors that might be contributing to the high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cases of STDs are at an all-time high, with more than two million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis reported in the United States in 2016. Young people aged 15–24 years acquire half of all new STDs, and alarmingly, one in four sexually active adolescent females has an STD. These rates may be impacted if clinicians encouraged positive, non-judgmental dialogue about young women’s health care. But our findings suggest that the medical community has much work to do to overcome communicatio...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Conditions OB/GYN Primary Care Source Type: blogs