March 9, 1995
What began as a panelist discussion of women and health turned into an intimate talk among a dozen women and three health care specialists on the state of women's health care and the need for women to empower themselves.
"Women and Health" held in the Cesar Chavez Student Center Tuesday was one of more than a dozen presentations featured in the International Women's Day Conference sponsored by the Associated Students' Women's Center. The conference is being held at sites all over campus. More than 40 panelists and artists are scheduled to participate this week.
"Health is the ability physically, mentally and spiritually to be able to live your life in the quality you wish to live it," said Derethia DuVal, a therapist in SF State's Counseling and Psychological Services Center.
According to DuVal, health is a state of both mental and physical condition. "Many times women don't realize that their physical issues are connected with self image and how we think of ourselves," she said. "If you don't feel that you are worthy and deserving, you won't get a breast exam."
Treatment of women by the medical profession was another concern among panelists. Dr. Myra Lappin, who has been director of the Student Health Service on campus since 1987, said that she is a partner in health care with the women she serves.
"Many students of color walk in with a chip on their shoulder because of previous health care treatment they received," Lappin said. "Either they were maltreated or ignored. We are setting a standard by which they'll judge health care in the future."
Often women leave her office feeling informed. "A lot of times they say, 'Nobody has ever told me that'" she said.
"Student Health Service serves as a safety net for students who are uninsured and those with high deductibles on their insurance," Lappin said. Services for women include annual pap smears, breast exams, pre-marital testing, birth control, pregnancy testing, sports medicine, and consultations for hypertension and diabetes. Every student pays a $65 student health service fee at registration which makes them eligible to use Student Health Service.
Lack of information given to women is an ongoing problem. According to DuVal, women feel they have no power and don't have the right to question the medical profession. "Women need to ask their doctors questions until they are satisfied with the answers they receive. They need to get other information."
"Our society is lacking in a lot of ways. We need to get back to earlier times when women in the community healed the society."
Anita Hernandez, an outreach specialist for the Iris Center in the Mission district, which offers counseling and recovery services for women, highlighted different programs offered there. The Iris Center offers acupuncture and natural therapies to HIV positive women. Another program they offer is a peer based HIV education project which promotes risk reducing behavior among Latina women in the Mission.
DuVal discussed a time when "ours was a multi-generational society" and women could consult with their elders to get information. "They healed the community, not doctors," she said. "Our society is lacking in a lot of ways."