Womens Health Event Summary and Reflection - Essay Example

"Women’s Health Event Summary and Reflection" is a great example of a paper on maternal health. It has been observed that, unlike other women, lesbians and bisexual women face quite a number of health challenges. Such observations have been made by comparing them to bisexual women’s trends in health. For instance, research indicates that during pregnancy, there are some hormones that the body produces. Such hormones play a part in a woman’s general health, particularly by keeping some diseases at bay. Health practitioners have observed that because lesbians and bisexuals do not conceive, they cannot benefit from such natural processes. Others observe that because of the stigma that lesbian and bisexual women go through, other related complications may occur. Probably the most important question is what this category of women should do. Professionals have proposed different ways to respond to the situation. One of the proposals has been approaching the issue from a legal perspective.

Women’s Health Event Summary and Reflection: Introduction

In the above forum, the main agenda was about general health issues. The chief aim was to increase understanding and to provide strategies for working with LGBT youth. Some of the issues that were addressed included foster care and special challenges due to trauma and placement instability. The forum also discussed the long-term effects of maltreatment. Invited speakers were Liz Quinn, Brandynicole Brooks, and Mary Hicks-Pope. The speakers hold various positions in the society, with Quinn and Brooks working at the DC Child and Family Services Agency. Their presence and expertise offered a wealth of knowledge into the matters discussed. During presentations, various guest guest-speakers spoke about LGBT in general. For the purposes of this study, this paper will focus on those health issues that affect women.

The Forum: Summary

While addressing items of the day, it emerged from the speakers that all women have specific health risks as individuals. M/s Quinn, for example, observed that there is a need for women to consider healthy living and regular medical care. She asserted that it was an important step towards healthy living as Petros and others highlight (Petros et al., 2012). She observed that research suggests that lesbian and bisexual women are more exposed to some health problems much more than other women are. As such, she pointed out that there is a need for lesbian and bisexual women to address their health issues with their doctors. This, she noted, enables early diagnosis of any possible condition. She highlighted early assessment and diagnosis as appropriate preventive measures (Petros et al., 2012).

To be more specific, the speakers pointed out that heart disease is the number one killer for many women. They noted that risk factors that are out of control included family health history, age, and race. Even so, they remarked that smoking and high blood pressure were examples of preventable risk factors. They had based their argument on the fact that lesbians and bisexuals have a higher rate of obesity, stress, and smoking. They noted that the above are risk factors for heart disease and as such, bisexual and lesbian women were at a risk (Petros et al., 2012).

Another health area that the speakers addressed was the likelihood of cancer among lesbians. They claimed that there are studies suggest that certain hormones excreted during pregnancy contribute to reducing the chances of cancer. Lesbian cannot benefit from this. Besides, they observed that lesbians and bisexual women are not highly likely to get mammograms out of fear of stigmatization. They also highlighted other conditions that result from stigmas such as depression and anxiety. The speakers also noted that Polycystic Ovary Syndrome was also significantly higher among lesbians and bisexual women.  Like Petro et al., (2012) they stressed the importance of regular clinical checks especially for lesbians and bisexual women as a solution to some of the problems.

Reflection

The speakers observed that some of the problems that lesbian and bisexual women’s trauma can be attributed to stress from stigma. One may observe that the Congress’ renewal of the violence against women act sometimes back was part of the solution (Parker, 2013). The speakers stressed other health factors affecting lesbian and bisexual women. Even so, it appears that some solutions could also come from the context of the law as enshrined in the women’s act. One may approach some of the long-term effects of maltreatment from the context of the law (Sears, 2005). Even so, the speakers approached the issue from a balanced perspective and objectively. They focused on trends and statistics to elaborate on the issues affecting lesbian and bisexual women.

 

 

 

 

 

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