Bootcamps and PowerPoints: Health Education for Women

I love helping health educators work. Last week, Michelle Ernaga, MPH, RD, ordered 3 PowerPoint presentations for her students. She bought...

• Women's Health Bootcamp
• Diet and Heart Disease
• Make the DASH

Why these three? Well, Michelle teaches health classes for women at local churches and in school health programs. Each of these PowerPoints speaks to key women's health issues, and since each presentation comes with free additional health education materials, Michelle could save time by simply downloading what she needed without having to deal with researching the latest science, formatting the slides, creating graphics, or any other headaches. All the work was already done for her, thanks to our team of experts. But why put together health classes especially for women? Well, according to Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2012, 13.7% of adult women in the United States are only in fair or even poor health. Moreover, 32.8% of American women have hypertension, 35.9% are obese, and 17.3% smoke cigarettes (source). Millions of women in American are underserved when it comes to health, and many more don't have access to the information that could help them improve their health. Michelle is doing her best to change that, setting up classes that cover key topics in women's health: breast cancer, osteoporosis, and heart health. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives.” In fact, not counting certain skin cancers and lung cancers, it is the most common cancer in women, no matter what their race or ethnicity. In 2009 -- the most recent year that comprehensive data was available at the time of this show’s publication – 211,731 American women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,676 women in the United States died from it (source). Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. In fact, the CDC asserts that 1 in 4 American women will die of heart disease. Last but not least, let's turn to osteoporosis. The National Library of Medicine maintains, “Anyone can develop osteoporosis, but it is common in older women. As many as half of all women and a quarter of men older than 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.” Furthermore, according to the National Institutes of Health, “In the United States, more than 40 million people either already have osteoporosis or are at high risk due to low bone mass, placing them at risk for more serious bone loss and fractures. Although osteoporosis can strike at any age, it is most common among older people, especially older women.” I was impressed by Michelle's goals and her commitment to teaching these key health lessons... so I threw in two more health presentations for free. I added...

• Diet and Breast Cancer
• Women and Heart Disease

I chose those two in order to round out the presentations that Michelle had already planned. The Diet and Breast Cancer PowerPoint presentation was a great resource for adding more information to the Women's Health Bootcamp. With it, Michelle could lead her participants into a more detailed discussion about the link between what they eat and their risk of breast cancer. The Women and Heart Disease PowerPoint presentation adds another level to the Diet and Heart Disease PowerPoint presentation that Michelle had already purchased. By using this show too, Michelle can address the specific heart health issues that are most important to women. Michelle was thrilled with the additions, and wowed by the shows she'd purchased. She wrote to me to say that there is no other company like Food and Health Communications. She ended her email with "I am most appreciative of your generosity and your professionalism." What praise! It is such a treat to put together the best nutrition and health education resources in the business, and I love the opportunities that I get to really help the people who are making such a difference in so many lives. To continue the tradition, I've uploaded a free handout to this very post. Get your copy of the free Women's Heart Health handout today! I'm proud of the many and varied nutrition education materials in the Nutrition Education Store. Some of the most popular resources include... By Judy Doherty, PC II and Founder of Food and Health Communications, Inc PS Michelle is going to work on men's health next and will be ordering the Men's Health Bootcamp in the fall. What are you preparing for?