What the crap? End the gap in women's healthcare
Since the emergence of COVD-19, women are reported to be more likely to go without healthcare compared to men according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (March 22, 2021). The pandemic has laid bare many inequities in access to healthcare, and women’s health is just one of them. In addition, women of color have taken on a disproportionate burden of poor access to care during this time.
Many women have reported skipping preventative health visits, recommended medical testing, and do not refill prescriptions, cut their pills in half, or skip doses. At least one in ten women were not able to access birth control.
This has forced women with underlying health conditions and economic challenges to experience worsening physical and mental health.
Why are women forgoing preventative health care at such high rates? This report describes possible causes which include fear of exposure to COVID-19, trouble getting medical appointments, and economic constraints which make it less likely for women to access telehealth or other virtual platforms for care.
From my observations during the last 30 years, I have been in practice, I would add another reason to this list. Women’s health is marginalized. Women continue to be undervalued and disrespected, and this shows up over and over again in our health care system. Women make up over 50% of the population yet so little is understood about how our bodies work. NIH did not even mandate that women be included in clinical trials until 1994. Health indicators for women continue to worsen. Maternal mortality has seen a 50% rise since 1999 and women with cardiovascular disease report more treatment disparities than male patients stating doctors do not listen to them, even when heart disease is known to be the number one killer of women.
When the pandemic first hit last March, my practice shut down for a couple of months. I was able to see a few clients via telehealth. However, most people I see prefer or need in-person visits as I have not figured out how to conduct physical exams virtually. My colleagues in the hospital trenches were providing critical, urgent care. I felt guilty that I had left the hospital setting and was no longer on the front line. I volunteered to work in the hospital which did assuage these feelings to an extent. I had fleeting thoughts that the care I was providing at Lifecycle Women’s Health was elective, maybe perhaps frivolous, as the nationwide death rate kept climbing.
And then I snapped out of it. The entire premise of my practice is based on the fact that so many areas of women’s health have been dismissed and disregarded. Too often women are made to feel that their issues are all in their head or not significant. They have organs removed and medications dispensed, yet many women are still not achieving health and wellness. Our health care system further fails women by not granting them the time to tell their stories and not allowing their health care providers the time to really listen.
During the summer I carefully reopened my practice and slowly began to see clients both in-person and virtually. I am overjoyed as I see women reclaim their right to positive physical, mental, and sexual health. Women make up to 80% of the healthcare decisions for their families. Don’t they deserve the honor and respect to spend as much time on themselves as they do for others?
I continue to accept new clients in my practice where I specialize in healthcare during the menopause transition, sexual health counseling, and well body care. I accept most insurance plans. Feel free to contact me for a free 20 minute consult to see if my services are right for you. Feeling your best is not a luxury or a privilege, it is your human right. You deserve it.
Susan Kamin is a certified nurse midwife and a certified sexuality counselor. After many years of helping people give birth and be born, she is now providing personalized integrative well body care at Lifecycle Women's Health in Readfield and Brunswick, Maine. She sees people across the lifespan with a focus on care during midlife/menopause and sexual health. She enjoys sharing her wisdom in the hopes of helping people find pleasure, knowledge, and empowerment in their bodies as they go through all of life's transitions.
