Woman, Prevention is better than Cure!

The buzz for Women’s Day gets louder with each passing year, but it is yet to be seen what all has been done to make woman safer, especially health wise.

There is a need that women undergo preventive health check-ups to avoid ailments like cancer, diabetes and cardio vascular diseases from happening. Home health check-ups provided by HealthCare at Home is aimed at making a difference in women’s lives, writes Gaurav Thukral, Head Medical Services, HCAH.

Single-handedly she takes care of
everything – home, family, parents, kids and their multifarious demands without any complaints. No matter what role she is in -- mother, sister or a wife, she is just at her best in taking care of your needs.

For a woman, family always comes first than her own self. She can compromise and sacrifice anything or everything for the sake of her family members. Women have also come of age and they now even lend financial support so that their families can lead a comfortable life.

In meeting with all the demands and pressures, what gets a beating is her health. A woman takes enough pains to keep her family members in shape, but her own health is always the last thing on her mind. A family, which runs flawlessly when the charge is in the control of a woman, goes haywire when she is down with any health issue.

The sheer ignorance of her health many a times turns fatal when a minor disease, which could have been avoided with simple health check-ups, turns life threatening. Time constraint and dependency on others to visit a doctor for check-ups usually become the common issues for most of the women.

Understanding that ‘Healthy Woman Makes Healthy Families’ and how important it is for them to stay in good shape, we at HealthCare at Home thought to plug this gap. We decided to provide preventive health check-ups to women in their comfortable confines of home. Realizing that ignorance on the part of women is the main reason for not getting check-ups done HCAH brought the concept of preventive check-ups at the women’s doorsteps. 

The homecare provider of specialized services saw that women were not careful about their illnesses and skipped seeing a doctor for the same, until it did not reach frightening levels. Anemia and lack of vital nutrients was another issue that bogged women down as they overlooked their diet in the hustle bustle of their daily lives and made no conscious efforts for consuming nutrient-rich food.

Lack of awareness, we realized, about preventive health check-ups was another problem area. Chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cardiac ailments remained unnoticed in women as they either ignored or delayed the check-ups.

HCAH provides comprehensive health check-ups at home under which cancer screening is also done for breast cancer and cervical cancer, the two common forms of cancer with which women are mostly afflicted with. It is advised that after the age of 40, woman should get themselves checked for cancer every six months. Women should particularly undergo for Pap smear and breast examination after mid 30s.

It is seen that women are not very comfortable getting these two tests done as it involves the private parts of the body. The home health check up provided by HCAH addresses all the concerns of women. The tests are conducted by women nurses in the privacy of home. The tests take only five minutes and the service saves the person from visiting a doctor as well.

Besides, the nurses of HCAH are skilled to collect samples of blood, urine and even do ECG at home. Full body examinations are also done by them, under which the physiotherapists also look after the wear and tear of women’s body. They check the pain points like on the back, shoulders, neck and ankle -- areas which are under constant pressure. The physiotherapists guide the women about the right posture they have to follow as also how to prevent the pain from recurring.

The nurse and nutritionists impart knowledge to women about the importance of being healthy and eating right diet.

After the check-up, the health data of the woman screened is shared with her doctor concerned through video and telephonic consultation. After a review, the doctor prescribes the medication and health plan to be followed, which is shared with the woman by HCAH.

Women play varied roles in our lives and compromise on various things to let the engine of our homes running. If they fail to take care of their health, the demand of the time is that family members, especially the male, do something about it. A timely check-up can ensure that various health ailments remain at bay.

HCAH took one step to ensure health safety of women by providing check-ups at home and it is for the woman and family members to take the next. Just one thing has to be kept in mind that ‘all will be fit if only she is fit’!