General News
6 September, 2024
Women’s Health Week
The Well Women’s Drop-in session hosted by Maryborough and District Health Service (MDHS) on Monday morning was vital in empowering women with knowledge about local health resources.
The first week of September marks national Women’s Health Week, and the session — in the atrium outside The Nest — provided local women with access to clinical staff and printed resources to help with health management.
Attendees learned about local women’s health services, including the Well Women’s Clinic, Maryborough BreastScreen and the new Sexual and Reproductive Health Advice (SaRA) clinic.
A variety of resources were available to be taken home in colourful bags provided by the Jean Hailes Women’s Health Week campaign.
MDHS community health nurse Nicole Powers enjoyed the opportunity to speak to a number of women who visited the information tables as part of the event.
“I think they pretty much knew the Well Women’s Clinic, but now we have the new SaRA Clinic so a lot were finding out about that, which was really good,” Ms Powers said.
She said the resources on offer were ideal for women between the ages of 25 to 74 who need to be up-to-date with their cancer screening.
MDHS Aboriginal hospital liaison officer Tonya Fedel shared information about resources available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the community, including an upcoming program.
“We’ve got the BreastScreen happening for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, organised by Victoria Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO),” Ms Fedel said.
To provide an empowering, positive experience that includes a feeling of cultural safety, VACCHO created The Beautiful Shawl Project, which offers complimentary shawls for women to wear during breast screening.
Ms Fedel said that the provision of the shawls makes the process of presenting for a screening “less intimidating” for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
“This will be our first breast screening for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women so we’re looking forward to seeing how it all goes,” she said.
The shawls, designed by talented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and artists, are gifts for the women to take home after the screenings have been completed.
The shawls to be provided for local screenings were designed by Yorta Yorta, Wemba Wemba, Mutti Mutti, Wiradjuri artist Alkina Edwards. Called ‘Dunguludja Mulana (Strong Spirit), in the words of the artist,
the design represents “women’s empowerment, resilience and strong spirits.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women requiring more information about the resources available can get in touch with Ms Fedel or the other MDHS Aboriginal hospital liaison officer Kymberley Williams.
For women unable to attend the session but interested in finding out more, printed resources are available at the hospital from either the main entrance foyer, or the waiting room near the cafeteria.
MDHS partnered with The Nest and Central Goldfields Shire for the event, to help break down barriers and ensure women’s health and wellbeing in our community is prioritised.
The Women’s Health Week campaign is led by Jean Hailes for Women’s Health.
