In her third year of medical training – discouraged by how little focus there was on caring – a young woman was faced with a decision: she could throw her hands up and quit or she could risk speaking up and work toward change. She decided to send out a call for submissions, asking women to share their experiences of health care and caring. Her inbox immediately overflowed with stories from women across Canada. Together, this amazing group of women wrote Women Who Care. Most women have stories to tell about their experiences of health care. They care for themselves through personal health and illness; they seek care from others; they become lay caregivers to their children, partners, aging parents and extended families. Some work as health care professionals – physicians, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, social workers, psychologists. Others work in community centres and shelters, or as health administrators, health policy-makers, women’s health researchers, and as feminist leaders and activists in women’s health. Women Who Care is a collection of women’s stories about caring. Through prose and poetry, this book captures the personal and professional values and expectations of women caregivers at each stage in their lives and careers. It examines women’s experiences as the providers and recipients of health care. About the Editors: Nili Kaplan-Myrth, MD, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and physician. She has expertise in determinants of health, women’s health, disability studies and Indigenous self-determination in health, with a strong commitment to action-based qualitative research, feminism and social justice. Her three wonderful children, her friends and family haven’t let her quit medicine yet. Lori Hanson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan with interests in community activism, gender and development, health equity, sexual and reproductive health, health promotion, and transformative education. In her spare time, she raises her two sets of twins and works with a great group of community and university women involved in the Saskatoon Women’s Community Coalition Patricia Thille, Sc (PT), MA, is a former physical therapist and health services researcher. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Calgary and balances her academic work with community outreach as a healthy sexuality educator with Venus Envy. |
