Barb is uniquely qualified to lead discussions on the subject of women’s health.
During her career at BC Women’s…
Friday 06 May 2011 at 5:46 pm
Women, particularly women who are also mothers, are a key element in society. In my mind, the word "mother" means nurturing, warmth, and unconditional love, Anyone who has enjoyed "mothering" in their lives will know how that fundamental core of support has enabled us to grow and make our ways in the world. We know that healthy thriving communities are those in which women have access to education, health care and the full range of human rights.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ BC Women’s Best Birth Clinic
Sunday 10 April 2011 at 1:51 pm
Another wonderful innovation at BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre, The Best Birth Clinic offers information about giving birth as well as individual consultations for women who are thinking about whether vaginal birth or caesarean birth is their best option.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ International Women’s Day
Tuesday 08 March 2011 at 10:53 pm
For me, International Women’s Day (IWD) is always one of the times I reflect on the issues relevant to the status of women here in Canada, as well as throughout the world. And, because I have worked in women's health for most of my career, I naturally think first about the connection between basic human rights, and the right of every women to enjoy sexual and reprodictive health.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Sore Jaw? Shorter teeth?
Monday 14 February 2011 at 6:08 pm
When I ask my women friends how things are going in their lives I often get this response: “Ohhhhhh! Life is so hectic and stressful I don’t know how I keep going!”
I think this is a characteristic of women’s lives today. We are most often the primary caregivers of our families and aging parents and these days we are also commonly employed outside the home. When I consider that many women who are single parents fall within the lowest income bracket, below the poverty line, I’m not surprised that stress is such a common occurrence.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Sore Jaw? Shorter teeth?
Monday 14 February 2011 at 6:08 pm
When I ask my women friends how things are going in their lives I often get this response: “Ohhhhhh! Life is so hectic and stressful I don’t know how I keep going!”
I think this is a characteristic of women’s lives today. We are most often the primary caregivers of our families and aging parents and these days we are also commonly employed outside the home. When I consider that many women who are single parents fall within the lowest income bracket, below the poverty line, I’m not surprised that stress is such a common occurrence.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Oh No! High Blood Pressure!
Wednesday 22 December 2010 at 2:16 pm
Our blood pressure is like lots of things going on in our bodies like our pulse, breathing when we aren’t thinking about it, etc. – we’re not aware of it until something unusual happens.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Sharing With Our Sisters in Need
Friday 10 December 2010 at 8:06 pm
We know that gender, socio-economic status, education, employment and occupation, and family structure are some of the key determinants of health. Women living in poverty face many challenges to achieving good health including poor nutrition, problems with accessing appropriate health care, higher risk of addictions, greater stress levels, single parenting and/or relationship issues (including relationship violence).
Read More_____________________________________________________________ World Aids Day is coming! December 1, 2010
Sunday 28 November 2010 at 8:28 pm
World AIDS Day is all about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice, and improving education, and when I think about the situation throughout the world and in Canada, I feel frustrated by how easily HIV/AIDS drops off the radar once World AIDS Day is over for another year.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Do You Love Your Heart?
Sunday 07 November 2010 at 2:44 pm
The human heart is the symbol most often used in association with “love” (think of Valentine’s Day) – but do we love our hearts enough to make sure that important part of our body is as healthy as it can possibly be?
Read More_____________________________________________________________ PAP Awareness week is here! Find out about the LACE Campaign coming up during the week of October 24 – 30, 2010
Friday 22 October 2010 at 6:32 pm
The Province of BC has an impressive cervical cancer screening program that has been very effective in reducing the numbers of women who die from cancer of the cervix (cancer rates have been reduced by 70% since the program began in the 1950’s). That’s because Pap tests can find abnormal cells on the cervix long before these cells become cancerous, and treating them means the cancer does not develop.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ The Gordon Diamond Family Gift to the Women of BC
Thursday 14 October 2010 at 5:56 pm
The Gordon Diamond family, known for its generosity and support of many worthy causes, has donated $3 million to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in partnership with the BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre Foundation. This gift will enable the establishment of the Sadie Diamond Breast Health Imaging Centre at BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre along with the purchase of two state-of-the-art mammography machines with the most advanced technology available today. An additional $1.1 million contributed by the Provincial Health Services Authority will provide funding for training of staff and a Fellowship (physician training) program.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ BC Women's: Always Ahead of the Pack
Monday 27 September 2010 at 2:58 pm
The Third Ismaili Walk for Women took place on Sunday September 26, 2010, and, in spite of the “iffy” weather many brave souls participated and had a wonderful time. As a Board member of BC Women’s Hospital Foundation, and a former employee at BC Women’s Hospital, I feel very grateful to the Ismaili Community for having chosen the BC Women’s Hospital Foundation as a partner, and the Women’s Health Research Institute at BC Women’s (WHRI) as the beneficiary of the Annual Ismaili Walk.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Supporting Research in Women’s Health
Tuesday 07 September 2010 at 1:24 pm
If you are a woman, or if you know and care about at least one woman, then you might agree with me about the importance of research in all fields related to women's health - first of all, because there are many diseases and conditions that affect only women, and even where diseases/conditions also affect men, often the symptoms and the effects seen in women are very different.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ More About the Importance of Research in Women’s Health
Tuesday 31 August 2010 at 5:45 pm
I’m pretty sure we all know at least one woman who has had a diagnosis of breast cancer. As frightening as that diagnosis is, there has been a lot of progress in its diagnosis and successful treatment over the past several years
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Research and the HPV Vaccine
Thursday 26 August 2010 at 7:56 pm
When we think of health conditions that affect women only, cancers of the reproductive organs usually are the first to come to mind, and cancer of the cervix is one example.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Another Research Report?
Monday 09 August 2010 at 5:54 pm
Have you noticed how often health research findings seem to contradict each other? Sometimes this is because what is reported in media such as newspapers or TV is the most dramatic (to get our attention) but is only a small part of the story. We read the headline, and maybe the first few paragraphs, but may not get to read statements such as “needs more investigation”, or “a very small study involving only x study subjects”.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Surviving Adolescence
Friday 30 July 2010 at 4:32 pm
So, we’ve made it through puberty! Now comes adolescence. How can you tell you have an adolescent in your life? The signals start showing up sometime during all those puberty changes, usually in the form of startling emotional outbursts. “Ohhhhh! This family is impossible!” “You never pay any attention to me!” Then, 10 seconds later, “Leave me alone!”. You certainly don’t recall behaving like that back then. Or do you?
Read More_____________________________________________________________ The Joys of Puberty
Sunday 18 July 2010 at 6:28 pm
During my career as a sexual health educator for Planned Parenthood (now Options for Sexual Health) I spent lots of time in Elementary Schools teaching kids and their parents about puberty. You'd think that parents, having gone through it themselves, wouldn't need to be reminded about the needs of their pre and pubertal child for information, understanding and support! But, how easily we forget (or blank out) the times we were ..?Surprised? Alarmed? Amazed? Definitely not amused? by the weird things that were happening to our bodies and the zigzagging emotions we were going through. What I really loved, though, was the open-minded rampant curiosity of those 8 to 12 year olds.... there was no outer limit to the array of questions they could come up with when faced with a truly "askable" source of information.
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Where Did I Come From?
Friday 09 July 2010 at 5:36 pm
One of the biggest challenges faced by parents of young children is providing “good” answers to their questions. Children have an uncanny ability to home in on the areas we wish they wouldn’t ask about, like death, religion and sex. Especially sex, or as it should be called, "sexuality". Most of us can come up with an age-appropriate answer to “where did I come from?”, but what if the question, asked in a very loud voice in a crowded store is “when grown-ups are making love, how do they know when they are finished?” ?
Read More_____________________________________________________________ Excuses! Excuses!
Tuesday 22 June 2010 at 3:34 pm
I do a really good job of looking after my car. When the little windshield sticker says it is time, in it goes for oil changes etc. But when it's time for my annual checkup I find lots of reasons why I can't make that appointment this week even though I know how important it is!
Read More_____________________________________________________________