If there was one word to describe the current biggest trends in health care for women, it would be “independence.” Women are taking control and setting higher standards for what they need and will accept in health care. Gone are the days of your doctor or someone else telling you what’s going to happen to your body. In are the days of women raising medical care standards and being more self-sufficient with self-care.
Think about how these brave new trends are already impacting your quality of life and which ones you need to bring into your health care regimen. The new women’s health and wellness trends are a life-saver for women, literally.
24/7 Specialists
If your default assumption is that you will have to wait 6 months or more, or travel an inconvenient distance, to get in to see the medical specialist you need, think again. Telehealth services and online prescription service sites are a major game-changer in terms of speed and convenience. More and more services are being offered remotely, including medical providers.
That means no more traveling in rush hour to sit in a waiting room indefinitely. It means that you are not limited to seeing only the practitioners who are located near you. Because it’s always 9-5 somewhere in the world, it also means you aren’t necessarily confined to meeting with health care experts during your own business hours. Doctors in Australia, India, and other time zones can see you during hours when local clinics might be closed.
For online prescriptions, many sites allow you to correspond in writing with the medical experts who can write and help you fill your scripts. You send a message to the site, via their secure portal. Medical experts review your needs, issue you the medication, and ensure that it’s sent to your door.
Women’s Specifics
Medical research historically focused on teaching doctors the signs and symptoms of diseases and problems, based on male patients. Women and people of various ethnicities and demographics often have different symptoms, different risk factors, and sometimes different likelihoods of certain illnesses. Fortunately, bias in health care is a hot topic among providers who know they need to do better. Women can help medical experts help them by speaking up.
When you speak to the nurse or doctor, make sure to ask how your illness presents differently for women. If they respond that they don’t know, or dismiss it as being the same for everyone, ask them to double-check. Medicine is not one-size-fits-all, and good health care providers know that.
Emphasis On Prevention and Preparation
Everyone knows that accidents will happen and getting older will eventually take a toll. That’s the bad news. The terrific news is that because we know these things are coming, women are taking more and more ownership of what it takes to be prepared.
The old adage that the more prepared you are, the luckier you’ll be, still holds true. Smart women are stocked with an arsenal of important contacts and supplies. Being ready with things ranging from the name of a great masseuse to a working knowledge of pain-easing stretches can keep you feeling good even when you’ve overdone it.
Take control of your skin, reproductive health, and even mental health online. Work with telehealth dermatologists to stock up on the creams and lotions that keep your skin fresh. Get Plan B online to have on-hand, just in case. Sign up for a therapist who can meet with you on your phone, to alleviate stress and think in healthier ways.
Keeping up with fitness, whether DIY or professionally guided, is an amazingly cost-effective way to prevent illness. Physical fitness is also a great way to limit how bad getting or injured will be, and how quickly you will recover.
Since telehealth makes seeing your doctor easier than ever, there is no reason to not avail yourself of another important preventative – regular checkups. Checkups help you spot issues before they get worse and help your medical provider understand what’s normal versus unusual for you.
Know Your Body and Rights
The biggest thing to know about what’s trending in women’s health care is that women are unique and important. There are more options than ever for women to maintain their privacy and autonomy. Women are leading the charge to better care for women, and health care experts and technological advances are helping them get there.
