
{"id":636,"date":"2007-07-25T12:11:42","date_gmt":"2007-07-25T20:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/07\/25\/nc-women%e2%80%99s-health-report-card-gives-mixed-results\/"},"modified":"2007-07-25T12:11:42","modified_gmt":"2007-07-25T20:11:42","slug":"nc-women%e2%80%99s-health-report-card-gives-mixed-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/07\/25\/nc-women%e2%80%99s-health-report-card-gives-mixed-results\/","title":{"rendered":"N.C. Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Health Report Card gives mixed results"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>UNC News Services<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The good news:\u00c2\u00a0 More women in North Carolina are being screened for cancer and infectious diseases, fewer women are dying from heart disease and stroke, and the number of women who smoke has dropped substantially.<\/p>\n<p>The bad news: Barriers to health care are worsening for poor and minority women. About 16 percent of all N.C. women and more than 60 percent of Hispanic women lack health insurance. Close to half of black women are obese and among Hispanic women high cholesterol has increased 117 percent.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>These findings were announced this week during the launch of the 2007 North Carolina Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Health Report Card at the North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is our biannual effort to evaluate women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health in our state,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Dr. John Thorp, interim director of Center for Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Health Research at UNC. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153North Carolina is the only state in the nation that regularly prepares such a comparative report on women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the report card shows that minority women are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. Deaths from diabetes and cervical cancer among black women are more than twice that of white women.\u00c2\u00a0 Minority women are also at greater risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and have higher infant mortality rates and less prenatal care.<\/p>\n<p>New to the report card this year are measures for dental health and mental health. Almost one-third of adult women reported no dental visits in the past year, a significant finding because gum disease is linked to cardiovascular disease and a higher incidence of preterm birth. Approximately one in five new mothers experience moderate to severe depression in the months following delivery. The 2007 report card also features a new section on women with disabilities and shows nearly one-third of all N.C. women are living with a disability.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are pleased that women with disabilities are now included in the 2007 NC Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Health Report Card,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Pam Dickens, women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health coordinator for the N.C. Office on Disabilities and Health. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This data shows what we see in our work every day; women with disabilities face greater health challenges and often have fewer health resources than other North Carolinians. Women with disabilities, health care providers and public policy makers must address access to health care and preventive health care needs for women with disabilities.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Featured speakers at the launch included Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, Sen. Katie G. Dorsett, Rep. Verla Insko and poet Jaki Shelton Green, the 2007 report card spokeswoman. Representatives from the UNC and East Carolina University schools of medicine also attended.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health is important to the whole family,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Shelton Green. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As I speak throughout the state, I encourage my audiences to nag your wife to get a mammogram, help your pregnant cousin quit smoking or urge your grandmother to get a flu shot.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The report card is produced by UNC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Center for Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Health Research in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and sponsored by the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers and Talecris Biotherapeutics. Data was compiled from state health behavior surveys, statistics, disease reporting systems and U.S. Census Bureau reports.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2000, the Center for Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Health Research serves the women of North Carolina and the nation by documenting the health status of women, studying models for improving care, evaluating promising new treatments and developing effective prevention programs.<\/p>\n<p>The complete report card may be downloaded from the Center\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cwhr.unc.edu\">www.cwhr.unc.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UNC News Services The good news:\u00c2\u00a0 More women in North Carolina are being screened for cancer and infectious diseases, fewer women are dying from heart disease and stroke, and the number of women who smoke has dropped substantially. The bad news: Barriers to health care are worsening for poor and minority women. About 16 percent&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}