On October 13th, Women Empowerment Council member United Family Healthcare hosted an event on Women’s Leadership and Healthcare.
To start, Peggy Lu, Assistant Chief Medical Officer and Family Medicine Chair at Shanghai United Family Hospital, spoke about women’s health through a woman’s life cycle. Her first point: don’t wait too late. Even as early as middle school, girls should learn about their sexual health as they are growing and developing.
As girls get older, it’s important to be aware of the different contraception options and the effectiveness of each. Dr. Lu noted that IUDs are the most reliable whereas condoms are not entirely safe. Condoms do, however, play a vital role in a healthy sex life by preventing STDs, and as Dr. Lu mentioned, a healthy sex life is key to overall wellbeing. The benefits of intimate relationships include bonding, stress relief, and better sleep. In closing, Dr. Lu reminded the audience how crucial it is for women to schedule regular checkups and screen for cervical and breast cancer.
From a mental health perspective, Joyce Chen, Psychotherapist at Shanghai United Family Hospital, shared about the key to womanly happiness through motherhood, post-partum, and into the senior years. Her first piece of advice: all women should live for themselves, not their spouses, children, parents, or employers. It’s impossible to juggle expectations from all angles and a sense of self-worth provides the solid foundation every woman needs.
Mental health is just as important as physical health and just as everyone has a family doctor, Dr. Chen says everyone also needs a therapist. When speaking specifically about pregnancy, Dr. Chen encourages women to reach out to counselors if they are dealing with post-partum depression (PPD) as it is very common and is nothing to be ashamed of.
Another tip from Dr. Chen is to avoid having your mother and mother-in-law over at the same time to help with a newborn! In fact, she says waiting a full month allows a mother time for herself and her child. One of her last pieces of advice was to remember you are not superwoman and that is okay—women need to be alright with delegating some tasks to others so that they can thrive.
Roberta Lipson, CEO of United Family Healthcare, added to the discussion by sharing how corporations can improve women’s healthcare through CSR programs. United Family Healthcare’s own 1% Charity Program is a perfect example. United Family Healthcare created this program to donate 1% of revenue to patients who come from backgrounds that do not afford them adequate healthcare benefits. So far, this program has covered over 20,000 outpatient visits, 1,000 inpatient care admissions, and 400 surgical procedures adding up to 180 million RMB in medical services.
United Family Healthcare also has an HPV/Cervical Cancer Initiative that has helped thousands of women all over China. The impetus for such a program stems from the fact that cervical cancer is the second leading cancer among women under 45 in China, which is largely due to the lack of widespread screening. The program started by United Family Healthcare is able to provide screenings for 500 women in a single day and only takes a few hours. Women gather around a ping-pong table, which can be found in most towns in China, and are taught to self-sample in groups of ten. If results from the on-site lab indicate an issue, most women are treated the same day. Lipson stresses that the key take away from organizing a CSR program is that it is not only benefiting patients, but also the doctors and staff involved. Everyone involved finds value in their work, an invaluable reward that goes beyond a simple pay check.
Audience members tuning in online and in-person left with a much deeper understanding of what health means for women from both a physical and mental standpoint. Additionally, business professionals heard first-hand the value of CSR initiatives and their impact on company culture. Follow the Women Empowerment Council and United Family Healthcare for more events about women’s well-being and healthcare in China!