The following guest post comes to us via Stasee McKeny, Planned Parenthood Arizona’s community engagement intern.
Mother’s Day kicks off National Women’s Health Week (May 11 to 17), a week dedicated to empowering women to make health a priority in their lives.
After celebrating Mother’s Day, make health a priority throughout Women’s Health Week!
Making health a priority isn’t always easy for women. Women are more likely than men to avoid getting necessary health care because of the cost — 30 percent of insured women didn’t fill a prescription, 21 percent didn’t see a specialist, 24 percent skipped medical test treatment or follow-up, and 27 percent had a medical problem but didn’t see a health care provider. Affording health care is significantly more difficult for women who not only make less money than their male counterparts, but also use more health care services, like 12 months of birth control. Luckily, with health care reform, these disparities are slowly changing. Close to 27 million women with private health insurance gained expanded access to preventive health care services with no cost-sharing.
More women than ever now have access to affordable health care services and there is no better time to take advantage of this. During National Women’s Health Week, women are encouraged to do a number of things — whether it is making an appointment with a health care provider for a well-woman exam or deciding to eat healthy and exercise.
Why does National Women’s Health Week matter to Planned Parenthood Arizona? Planned Parenthood Arizona is the largest nonprofit reproductive health care provider in Arizona, and has close to 60,000 visits each year from women for a variety of preventive health care services, including life-saving cancer screenings, breast exams, contraception, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment and, now, primary care. Planned Parenthood works to provide affordable, honest, compassionate care to ensure that women are able to lead healthier lives.
This year, you can celebrate National Women’s Health Week with Planned Parenthood Arizona — and enjoy five fun fitness events in two cities.
In Scottsdale, PPAZ is partnering up with a fabulous new local yoga studio, Funke Yoga. Funke Yoga is adding three classes to their schedule during this week. The proceeds from the classes will go to Planned Parenthood Arizona to ensure we can continue to provide affordable health care services to women. Take the time out of your busy schedule and join Funke Yoga and Planned Parenthood for an evening to yourself. Reserve your spot today — space is limited!
In Yuma, PPAZ is hosting two free Zumba Classes on Thursday nights: May 8 and May 15. These classes will be held at Yuma Private Industry Council, MLK Youth Career Center, 300 S. 13th Ave. from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunset Community Health Center will be there to provide blood pressure checks and there will be a raffle for fantastic prizes. Find more details here.
