| Who Cares for the Caregiver?
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| The
National Alliance for Caregiving estimates that between 22
million and 25 million Americans care for an older or disabled
relative. About 80 percent of those are women, according to
the National Council on the Aging, Inc. The average caregiver
is a 57-year-old married woman, the NCOA says. What’s happened
in society is, because so many women are family caregivers,
we now have this expectation that they will do it. And if
a woman happens to be a working woman, she’s got to figure
out how to take it on. Basically, she winds up working time
and a half, or more. Many women care for aging parents who
simply cannot take care of themselves any longer, but many
women also provide care for parents, spouse, siblings, or
other loved ones who are undergoing treatment for cancer,
heart disease and other diseases, according to the NCOA. If
you are a working woman and family caregiver, the most important
thing to remember is TO ASK FOR HELP. Don’t try to be a hero
or martyr. You have to take care of yourself first before
you can be of help to others. |
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| AMERICANS
DEPEND ON OTHERS FOR HEALTH CARE INFORMATION! |
| WASHINGTON,
Sept. 14/PRNewswire/— Although 87% of workers with health
insurance are enrolled in managed care, most Americans admit
that they do not use their own personal experience to form
their opinion about managed care. Only 29% of Americans form
their opinion of managed care based on their own personal
experience. These are among the early findings of a 1999 Health
Confidence Survey (HCS), to be released in full by the nonpartisan
Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) next month. The
1999 HCS was sponsored by EBRI, the Consumer Health Education
Council, and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, and examines Americans’
satisfaction with health care today, their confidence in managed
care, Medicare, and the system’s future, and their attitudes
toward reform. So where do Americans get their health care
information? The HCS shows that 29% base it on what they have
seen, heard or read in the media, while 23% base their opinions
on what they have learned from family and friends. 15% don’t
even know how they came about their information. |
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| Biggest
Insurer Covers New Pap Test |
| A reversal
by the nation’s largest health insurer will give millions
of women access to new types of Pap tests believed to be better,
albeit more expensive, screening methods for cervical cancer.
Aetna Inc. have agreed to cover the ThinPrep Pap Test which
federal officials in 1996 said was more effective in detecting
early signs of cervical cancer. ThinPrep increases the detection
of abnormal or pre-cancerous cells. The coverage begins immediately.
“For patients, it will significantly reduce the chances that
their Pap test will miss an abnormality,” said Dr. Peter Grossman,
an obstetrician/gynecologist of August, GA. “Aetna held out
as long as they could, but as more studies show this is a
more accurate test and more insurers come on board, there’s
a lot of peer pressure in the industry to cover the test.”
Further, the ThinPrep lets doctors use the same sample to
test for the presence of the HPV virus, which is known to
cause cervical cancer. About 13% of the 50 million Pap smears
performed in the United States are now done with ThinPrep,
which is made by Cytyc Corp. Aetna’s U.S. Healthcare unit,
based in Blue Bell, PA., provides health insurance to 21 million
Americans. For more information, visit the Managing Your Health
Care page at www.womenCONNECT.com. |
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