Center Of Life

Center of Life> Women Claiming Power Workshop

As my 90 year old mother, working and living on her farm in Alabama, told me:
“It just isn’t polite to tell women what they need without getting their permission. And, this is not simply a courtesy darling; it’s a right and, quite frankly, a welcome responsibility.”

The Center has shared a version of my mother’s beliefs since its inception 30 year’s ago. In honor of those women who literally changed the face of health care delivery in the late 70’s, we plan to complete a position paper on how feminists would articulate their health care needs now.

The messages about who we are and what we need are filtering in quickly with the addition of midlife (and beyond) women being signed on as spokes models, advertising models, Directors, Producers and, occasionally, in leading roles portraying midlife women. What messages are being portrayed on the television screen and in medical schools about our needs? How many of those portrayals represent us? If you are 50 or older, you can contribute to some of the answer by participating in a research study that will be designed and supervised by Dr. Jan Andrews and Dr. Patti Owen Smith.

Patti was the first community volunteer elected to serve on the Center’s Board of Director and Jan is currently serving on the Board.Although Patti and Jan both have distinguished academic and clinical careers, they clearly want to contribute to the knowledge base available when political and educational decisions are being made about women’s health. They also understand that if the subject is “women’s health", women should be the one’s asking the questions! So, we’d appreciate your willingness to volunteer to be part of this study in one of the following roles:

How can YOU help? We need the following volunteers:

• Core Group: Women with experience in women’s health advocacy or practice who have some knowledge of feminism able to serve as part of a core group to help in planning the most important questions to be answered during 2-3 meetings beginning in late February or early March.
• Study Participants: Women who’ve had 50 or more birthdays and are willing to participate in a study group (similar to a focus group) at designated times over the next 6 months (beginning in March)
• Transcribers: People experienced in typing or data processing willing to volunteer their services
• Facilitators: 6-8 Volunteers with people skills willing to be trained in group facilitation
• Publication editor: one skilled person
• Funders: Individuals or groups willing to contribute financially to the study of midlife now and in the future

Ready to get Involved? Email here to participate!