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Got balance? The Women's Health Forum did. BWH's seventh annual forum-one of the city's premier health events for women-drew about 550 women to the Sheraton Boston Hotel Oct. 15 to learn about life balance, wellness and self discovery.
“Women are always getting discovered…but there's no thrill like discovering yourself. Discovering the self is its own journey, and adversity seems to be the ticket that lets you ride,” author Bebe Moore Campbell said in kicking off the forum with an account of her journey to self discovery as she coped with a loved one's struggle with mental illness.
This year's theme, “Got Balance?” reflects the struggle many women face to balance careers with family and other life issues, said Paula A. Johnson, MD, MPH, executive director of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology and chief of the Division of Women's Health.
The event helped women take control of their health and lives with inspiring speakers, vital health screenings, and 15 informative workshops led by BWH staff and physicians. Among the captivating workshops were Neurologist Reisa Sperling's “Memory Loss: What's Normal, What's Not?” and Community Health Program Medical Director JudyAnn Bigby's “Stress and the African American Woman.”
The day-long event also featured a riveting discussion between WCVB Channel 5 HealthBeat reporter Heather Unruh and BWH's Carolyn Kaelin, MD, MPH, who shared her story of transition from breast cancer doctor to patient and back to doctor. Kaelin, who attended the event with her mother, stressed the importance of diet, screenings and self exams in fighting and detecting breast cancer.
The forum closed with an empowering message about lifestyle choices and happiness from Cheryl Richardson, a life coach and self-improvement specialist who appears regularly on The Oprah Winfrey Show.