More of our returning favorites....

 

 

Chiropractic Services

Dr. Christiana Maia and Dr. Sarah Eckman from Trilogy Chiropractic Studio will be offering digital posture analysis through an iPad app! Patients will be able to learn where their posture is misaligned and view a diagram of what a more ideal posture looks like for them. The folks at Trilogy Chiropractic Studio view chiropractic care as a way to foster proper communication between the brain and the body and to treat the cause of pain rather than the symptoms.

 

 

 

Astrology

Marcia Moonstar from Moon-Wise Astrology will be at the Rainbow doing mini-astrology and tarot readings! Marcia has been a practicing astrologer for over 20 years, blending mythology, experiential astrology, women's spirituality, and holistic healing with astrology. She gives clients insight into their career potentials and future possibilities.

Heart Health

Look for Hayley from The Hope Heart Institute at the Rainbow! Hayley focuses on providing heart health outreach to a variety of populations within the greater Seattle area. She will be giving out heart health information and resources to prevent heart disease the number one cause of death for women!!

 

Hepatitis C Testing

Bryn Hannon from The Hepatitis Education Project (HEP) will be giving free Hepatitis C tests! HEP is committed to providing support, education and advocacy for people affected by hepatitis and to helping raise hepatitis awareness among patients, medical providers, and the general public. Get yourself tested for free!

 

 

The return of some favorite providers

 

B.E.S.T. Energy Healing

 

Linda Rasmussen, an Elite Master of B.E.S.T.  Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique), will be doing a demonstration and providing B.E.S.T. treatment.  B.E.S.T. is a gentle, light touch, energy balancing treatment that promotes relaxation and improves whole body functioning. Linda has a private practice and conducts workshops to train individuals and parents to provide basic energy balancing support to their family members and friends.

Acupuncture

Andrew Ball is a volunteer with The Alternative Health Access Campaign. Andrew runs acupuncture clinics for both Tent City 3 and ROOTS, providing medical care to the homeless population of Seattle and surrounding suburbs. His style of healthcare is focused on empowering patients to be able to better take care of themselves physically, mentally, and energetically.

Nutrition Information

Barbara Hoppe will be tabling at the Rainbow giving folks information about nutrition. Barbara is a nutritionist, health educator, and lactation consultant. She has a great deal of experience teaching about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. This time she will have you taste the different  healthy smoothies you can create! Come visit her table to learn more!

 

Ovarian Cancer Information 

Joan Elvin, a sixteen-year survivor of ovarian and breast cancer, will be providing education and awareness materials. Joan works with the Ovarian and Breast Cancer Alliance to replace fear with fact and to empower women to know the early warning signs of ovarian and breast cancers!

 

Dealing with Pap Phobia

When was the last time you had a Pap test?

Did you know the biggest risk factor for cervical cancer is not having a Pap test every two years?

We know it can often be challenging for people who are LBTQ to feel comfortable getting a Pap test. Because of a lack of acceptance or knowledge, communities and health care providers can inadvertently create uncomfortable or unsafe environments for their LBTQ patients. It's important for LBTQ individuals to find providers they trust and clinical settings that honor confidentiality. On top of all this, the cost of health care and other barriers - like a bad experience in the past - may keep us from going to see the doctor on a regular basis.

The Advocate recently published an Op-Ed called "The Lesbian Pap Phobia." The writer describes an encounter she had with a friend who had been afraid to get a Pap test, and was asking her to be her wing-person when she went for her appointment.

While I was a bit surprised by my friend’s request for me to be her wingman for her Pap test, it was an easy yes. Honestly, though, when she first started telling me her story I got pissed off. This woman has a great job. She’s generally amazing and politically astute... Except she’s 46 and she’d never had an annual exam, a Pap, any exam whatsoever that involved her genitals.

But as I listened, I realized that she was terrified. Embarrassed. She’d learned early to be suspicious of doctors; they never quite respected her queerness. She’d never been sexually active with men; she’d never sought a birth control pill prescription for contraception or as a means of managing some of the other boatload of crap that some people with a uterus can experience with menstrual cycles. Instead, she’d gotten the message so many queer women have gotten: lesbians don’t need that kind of health care. Lesbian sex is safe sex — no risk of sexually transmitted infections? And really, who wants to endure a litany of birth control questions that are too often and too aggressively paired with a women’s health checkup anyway!  So at 46, against that backdrop, she’d taken care of almost every other preventive medical intervention possible, but not the Pap test.

... Every year, approximately 12,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and about 4,000 American women die of the disease. But, if it is detected early, the five-year survival rate for cervical cancer is almost 100%.


Routine screenings for cervical cancer can detect precancerous conditions and allow health care providers to treat them before they progress. And vaccination against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer, can prevent the initial infection that leads to cancer. HPV can be passed by skin-to-skin contact. Planned Parenthood health centers provide 585,000 Pap tests and advanced testing and treatment for thousands of women with abnormal Paps and precancerous conditions.

I went with my friend to get her Pap test. The nurse and the practitioner were amazing, showing such compassion and expertise, I was so proud of Planned Parenthood. The results require a repeat Pap. I’ll be there again, no question. And I will fight with more verve and spirit than I did before. Because lesbians matter, and cervical health matters regardless of sexual orientation or sexual behaviors. Seriously.

At the 15th Annual Rainbow Health Fair on Saturday, June 29, we will have free Pap tests available for individuals of all ages from peer providers. To learn more about the health fair, Pap tests, or women's health in general - please contact YWCA Women's Health Outreach Program Manager Ingrid Berkhout at 206.461.4493 or iberkhou@ywcaworks.org.

Wild Rose Screening Event

To close 2012 with a bang, Women's Health Outreach had a wildly successful mobile screening event at the Wild Rose on December 8th. Sixteen women received free mammograms and Pap tests, twelve of whom were uninsured.

The Swedish mobile van

 

 

 

One of our wonderful mammogram recipients

 

 

 

Our fabulous volunteers

Here's what some of the attendees said about why they came to the screening:

“I think this is a great idea...I love this program.”

“I only have a catastrophic insurance plan. My friend and I were both nervous about getting mammograms. But this is at the Wild Rose, and feels really queer-friendly.”

“I don’t have medical insurance. The quotes I get are $800 a month. This is a wonderful program.”

 

“Health services should be available to everyone, regardless of finances.”

“I’m 40. Mammograms are expensive. But I have a family history of breast cancer, and I thought, ‘I should do this.’”

 

There are many great reasons to get a mammogram, especially considering 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, and the numbers in LBTQ women are even higher.

The next Wild Rose screening will take place in November of 2013. Look for updates and information on how to sign up in the coming months!

Special thanks to Erika Langley for taking pictures and gathering quotes for us!



Are LBTQ women at risk for HIV?

Tonya Rasberry has gotten used to telling her story. As a Peer Advocate for BABES Network-YWCA, it’s her job. She’s gone around to schools and spoken at public events – telling diverse audiences about how she became a woman living with HIV, and what her life is like now.

Last week, Edge magazine published an article about Tonya, highlighting that Tonya was no less at risk for HIV infection, despite the fact she is a lesbian woman of color.

“When Eric and I were together we shared a lot of things,” she continued, “including partners. … I was always attracted to women and of course I wasn’t going to get a complaint out of him when it came to me living a bisexual lifestyle,” she explained. “Not once did I consider the fact that maybe he also had a private life of his own, and no matter what we were doing behind closed doors neither one of us thought we would have HIV/AIDS affect our lives the way it has.”

Many women who have sex with women don’t realize that they are also at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, according to Kim Chronister, M.A., a therapist at AIDS Services Foundation. “According to my research, HIV can potentially be transmitted by exposure of the mucous membrane (i.e., the mouth) to vaginal secretions,” she said. “Also, shared penetrative toys may be a means for transmission of infected vaginal secretions, according to the CDC. In my therapeutic work with women who have sex with women, simple steps that these women can take to lower their risks of being infected may seem obvious, but unfortunately are rarely taken.”

Tonya calls for dialogue among communities of women to address the risk of HIV for LBTQ women: “I believe that just having the conversation about HIV/AIDS in our [lesbian] community is unbelievably crucial, because as long as a sexually active person is talking about those sensitive subjects it will help us alleviate some of the stigma that surrounds this topic.”

On June 23rd, BABES Network-YWCA is joining the YWCA Rainbow Health Fair and will have information on HIV/AIDS and the psycho-social support services they provide. HIV testing will also be provided by Gay City Health Project. Hope you can make it!

Make a Rainbow Donation this February! (And get matched!)

Breast, ovarian and cervical cancers affects hundreds of thousands of women every year. Many of whom are our sisters, mothers, nieces, aunts, grandmothers, friends or loved ones. Unfortunately, most of you know someone who has been affected by these cancers, or who is being affected as we speak. Fortunately, there is a way you can give back to this cause, right now.

YWCA Women’s Health Outreach is a program that provides peer outreach, culturally-sensitive breast health education, no-cost mammograms, and information on additional health services for our diverse community. The program offers no-cost mammograms, pap tests and breast exams for income eligible individuals 40 and over. We serve those with limited incomes who are medically underserved, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. We also focus our outreach efforts on women from African American, Latina, and LBTQ communities.

Every year to coincide with the Pride festivities, YWCA Women’s Health Outreach organizes a Rainbow Health Fair for members of the LBTQ community. At these health fairs, we make free health resources and education available to a population and community that is all too often overlooked by our healthcare system. This year, we are hoping to make it the biggest and best health fair thus far. But, in order to do that, we need your help!

If this is a cause that interests you, please visit our YWCA Donations webpage: http://www.ywcaworks.org/netcommunity/, and click the “donate” button on the right hand side of the webpage. Once on the donation page, select the designation to be the Health Access Department, and in the comments section of additional information, specify LBTQ Health: Rainbow Health Fair. Note that 100% of your money goes directly to YWCA Women's Health Outreach.

And, in the month of February, donations will be matched dollar for dollar - up to $1,000! Consider a tax deductible gift of $10, $25, $50 or more to support the health of women in the Seattle area!

Thank you and be well.

Proven to be helpful for lesbians to come out to providers

Lesbian Women:  Come Out to Your Providers!

Current studies on lesbian access to health care and participation in preventative health report that lesbian women experience an increased comfort with “coming out” to providers, but screening rates for this population still remain low (Steele, Tinmouth, & Lu, 2006, p.631; Roberts, 2006). Unfortunately, lesbian women still experience an increased risk of cancer due to a lack of screening (Roberts, 2006) and inadequately addressed health concerns and needs (Polek, Hardie, & Crowley, 2008).

You can help by talking to your provider! Your overall health outcomes are improved by sharing your history of sexual behaviors. This action increases the likelihood you will access health care services and experience an increased satisfaction of care (Polek, et al., 2008), but let’s not stop there! Providers must know that sexual orientation does not determine sexual behavior (Hutchinson, Thompson & Cederbaum, 2006, P. 394). As with any political identity, lesbian women’s health needs are not clearly defined due to variations within the community and present difficulties to target for health prevention and services (Hutchinson, et al., 2006; Polek, et al., 2008; Steele, et al., 2006). This is why your increased awareness and the actions of health care providers are instrumental to changing the state of health care access.

Health providers must take clear steps to reduce barriers to care for lesbian women. Some suggestions from Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (www.glma.org) and Mautner Project (www.mautnerproject.org) include:

·         “creating nonjudgmental office environments”

·         “advocating for inclusive language in all paperwork”

·         “asking, rather than making assumptions about sexual behavior and identity”

·         ” posting a nondiscriminatory policy in offices and waiting areas”

·         “training all professional and nonprofessional personnel in cultural competence”

·         “inquiring about sexual behavior rather than sexual orientation”

·         “ using gender-neutral language” (Polek, et al., 2008, p.248)

As a patient, you can go to GLMA’s website to search providers and encourage providers that provide a “welcoming” environment to join!

Hutchinson, M. K., Thompson, A. C., Cederbaum, J. A. (2006). Multisystem factors contributing to disparities in preventative health care among lesbian women. JOGNN, 35, 393-402.

Polek, C. A., Hardie, T. L., & Crowley, E. M. (2008). Lesbian's disclosure of sexual orientation and satisfaction with care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 19, 243-249.

Roberts, S. J. (2006). Health care recommendations for lesbian women. JOGNN, 35, 583-591.

Steele, L. S., Tinmouth, J. M., Lu, A. (2006). Regular health care use by lesbians: a path analysis of predictive factors. Family Practice, 23, 631-636.

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