All posts tagged Massage

16th Annual Rainbow Health Fair!


We are so excited to host the 16th annual Rainbow Health Fair on Saturday, June 28,from 1-5pm at All Pilgrims Church on Broadway and Republican at the Capitol Hill Pride Festival. At the Rainbow Health Fair, our mission is to offer traditional and holistic health services and education from culturally competent providers to lesbian, bisexual, and queer women and gender queer and transgender people, especially those with limited access to care.

Our vision:
A world where people of all genders and sexualities have access to the resources they need for optimal wellness.

Here’s the thing:
To make it happen we need YOU.

We need you to come by, say hi, and maybe even…

  • Get a free pap test or mammogram. Yeah, it’s nobody’s idea of a good time, but trust us, our providers love working with LBTQ patients – and did we say free?
  • Free mammograms for eligible people 40+ only
  • Free massages and acupuncture
  • Free snacks and water
  • Lots of great information for your health and wellness
  • Health resources in Seattle and the Puget Sound
  • Insurance info and enrollment
  • Win a sweet raffle prize from Babeland, Three Dollar Bill Cinema, Rat City Roller Girls, SIFF cinema and more!

We’ll be posting more soon about the awesome providers we have lined up for you, but in the meantime, save the date to come see us at Capitol Hill Pride!

The Rainbow Health Fair: free, fun, safe and queer!!

2014RHF

To stay up-to-date and informed about the Rainbow Health Fair this year and every year, visit the YWCA’s LBTQ Health Blog!

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by ywcakatie on June 9, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Women's Health Outreach
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Posted by ywcakatie on June 9, 2014

https://healthaccessywca.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/16th-annual-rainbow-health-fair/

Self-Care & Society


selfcareWhen you hear the phrase self-care, what are your first thoughts on the topic? Do images of being massaged, soaking in a hot tub or walking on the beach come to mind?  Or would you see yourself working out, dancing or going to see a therapist?

In the past year, a few of my colleagues and I have been focusing some of our energy to an experimental project involving self-care.  Although we all started the journey with our own personal working definitions of self-care, some interesting pieces to the self-care puzzle pushed forward for me as time passed.

According to an article written by Christine Meinecke, PhD, and published in Psychology Today:

Self-care means choosing behaviors that balance the effects of emotional and physical stressors: exercising, eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep, practicing yoga or meditation or relaxation techniques, abstaining from substance abuse, pursuing creative outlets, engaging in psychotherapy. Also essential to self-care is learning to self-soothe or calm our physical and emotional distress.

As the experiment continued, I realized how we collectively seem to understand the importance of self-care, but also how we each value its importance differently. This caused me to realize how closely the importance of self-care is related to culture. As I researched and thought about my personal feelings around the issue, I came across an article “How culture influences health beliefs,” which states:

Cultural differences affect patients’ attitudes about medical care and their ability to understand, manage, and cope with the course of an illness, the meaning of a diagnosis, and the consequences of medical treatment. Patients and their families bring culture specific ideas and values related to concepts of health and illness, reporting of symptoms, expectations for how health care will be delivered, and beliefs concerning medication and treatments. In addition, culture specific values influence patient roles and expectations, how much information about illness and treatment is desired, how death and dying will be managed, bereavement patterns, gender and family roles, and processes for decision making.

Share your thoughts! Do you believe self-care is an important aspect in the health of our society? In what ways does your community engage in the concept of self-care? What is your definition of self-care?

Take care of yourself and together we will take care of each other!

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by marilynwho on February 25, 2014  •  Quote  •  Permalink
Posted in Women's Health Outreach
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Posted by marilynwho on February 25, 2014

https://healthaccessywca.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/self-care-society-2/

June 29: 15th Annual Rainbow Women’s Health Fair!


RWHF_Poster_052213R3 (2)

Free massage? Free yoga? Free mammograms, pap tests, acupuncture, and more – all in an LBTQ-friendly setting? Yes, please!

Come by All Pilgrims Church at Republican and Broadway between noon and 4pm on Saturday, June 29, the day of the Capitol Hill Pride Festival. That’s where the Rainbow Women’s Health Fair will be taking place. The goal of the health fair is to provide holistic and traditional health services and education from culturally competent providers to lesbian, bisexual, and queer women and genderqueer and transgender people, especially those with limited access to care. “It’s about empowering the community to take care of their health,” says Ingrid Berkhout, YWCA Women’s Health Outreach Program Manager. Since 2000, she has coordinated a team of volunteers to make the health fair happen each Pride.

Research shows that lesbian and bisexual women are less likely to get the preventive screenings they need, like mammograms and pap tests, and are more likely to experience some health issues, such as depression. Trans people of all genders face even more barriers to getting the health care they need. Yet there are very few health services in Seattle geared toward LBTQ women and trans people. The Rainbow Women’s Health Fair attempts to fill this gap, at least for one day each year.

Why attend the health fair? Ingrid offers a lot of reasons: “To experience alternative healthcare you might not know about. To get your vitals checked. To have fun, meet women, maybe find a provider, and get lots of information about LBTQ community organizations. To be proud of your health! Because if you’re not healthy, nothing really works.” All providers that participate in the fair volunteer their time and resources, and the planning committee focuses on recruiting LBTQ providers (or people with a long history of serving our community) to ensure that all services are culturally competent, as well as free, for all participants.

The Rainbow Women’s Health Fair was started in 1995 by the Seattle Lesbian Cancer Project. In later years, the fair was sponsored by Verbena Health, and after their premature demise, Ingrid and the fair moved over to the YWCA. Despite the many changes in our community, the fair is still going strong. This year’s fair will be the 15th (a few years have been skipped), and will include free yoga, massage, acupuncture, HIV tests, vitals checks, mammograms, pap smears, raffle prizes, and more, as well as interactive workshops throughout the day on topics like nutrition. Check out the YWCA’s LBTQ Health Blog for updates.

If you’re interested in volunteering, contact Nina Cole at 206.461.4482 or ncole@ywcaworks.org. To schedule a mammogram appointment or for general information, contact Ingrid at iberkhou@ywcaworks.org or 206.461.4493. See you there!

Re-posted and adapted from LBTQ Health Blog.

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by ywcakatie on June 4, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Women's Health Outreach
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Posted by ywcakatie on June 4, 2013

https://healthaccessywca.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/june-29-15th-annual-rainbow-womens-health-fair/

Free Infant Massage Session for Caregivers!


This weekend, a group of students interested in learning infant massage techniques will be at Bastyr University. In the spirit of the weekend, there will be a second class – for free! – for caregivers to attend with their infants two weeks to nine months!

The Introduction to Infant Massage for Caregivers has spots left on both Saturday and Monday, and hopes you’ll bring your older child with you as well.

In addition to learning infant massage strokes, the free course offers information on infant cues and communication and the health benefits of infant massage. Some features include adaptive touch for older children and considerations for babes with special needs.

Each session’s held on the Bastyr University campus, located in Kenmore, WA. Find directions and more information here. To stay updated on events and information from the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr University, like them on Facebook.

The Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr University trains social, practical and clinical care providers for pregnant and new families, including:

A department of Bastyr’s School of Natural Health Arts & Sciences, the Simkin Center also sponsors workshops that focus on essential maternity care issues, as well as pregnancy and infant massage educator certification courses.

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by emeliahbo on August 7, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Healthy Birth Outcomes
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Posted by emeliahbo on August 7, 2012

https://healthaccessywca.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/free-infant-massage-session-for-caregivers/

Our Moms-2-Be maternity support group is a go!


Our first group met about prenatal care and birth options. All too often, new moms do not know what choices they have for prenatal care or birth outside of the hospital setting. Our culture has fixed a certain image of prenatal care and birth that many times does not include the important work of Midwives and Doulas. Nor do we learn that much about home births, birth centers or water births. 

Last week, Michelle Sarju, Licensed Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and clinical director of Open Arms Perinatal Services, joined Moms-2-Be to answer all our questions.

We learned that, fortunately, there is a growing movement in accessing “alternative” prenatal and birth care, however, we must work hard to close the socio-economic and cultural gaps of who is informed of these choices and who receives this type of care. ALL women should have the opportunity to at least know that they have CHOICES in their prenatal and birth experience.

Michelle and her amazing colleagues are working to make that happen. To learn more about Michelle, Open Arms and prenatal and birth options, check out this amazing video featuring Michelle’s path as a Midwife and the work she is doing toward making positive changes in how women experience pregnancy and birth.

Stay tuned for more updates about Moms-2-Be and everything we’re learning! Learn more about our Moms-2-Be groups and how to attend – or, just send me a quick email!

-Logan Hunt

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by loganywca1 on July 28, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Healthy Birth Outcomes
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Posted by loganywca1 on July 28, 2011

https://healthaccessywca.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/our-moms-2-be-maternity-support-group-is-a-go/