LGBT Health Awareness Week — a Good Time to Reflect on Your Personal Health

As Peggy Chinn wrote in last week’s Lavender Health blog post, it’s LGBT Health Awareness Week. Sponsored by the National Coalition of LGBT Health, the week is meant to increase awareness of LGBT health issues and to improve the competence of healthcare professionals and the healthcare system regarding LGBT health.

This seems like a good time to think about your personal health, your health promotion activities, and your routine health screenings.

Ask yourself these 10 questions:

1. Have you had an annual physical examination including gynecological exam in the last year?

2. Have you been to the dentist in the past 6 months?

3. Have you had a mammogram (if appropriate)?

4. Have you had a colonoscopy (if appropriate)?

5. Do you get the recommended amount of exercise every day or week (cardiovascular and weight/resistance training)?

6. Is your diet as healthy as it could be?

7. How much alcohol do you drink?

8. What is your weight?

9. Do you have social support (family, friends, co-workers)?

10. Do you find meaning in your life?

LGBT Health Awareness Week is now. If you have “room for improvement” in your personal health, why not take one step in the right direction, and do it today. Why wait?

About monashattell

Mona Shattell, PhD, RN, FAAN is professor and chair of the department of community, systems, and mental health nursing in the College of Nursing at Rush University in Chicago. She is the Editor of the Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, and the author of more than 100 journal articles and book chapters. Her published work focuses on therapeutic relationships, various environments of care, and the mental and physical health of truckers. Dr. Shattell is an active social media user, content developer, and public thought leader. She has published op-eds in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Hill, Health Affairs Blog, Huffington Post, PBS, and others. She received a PhD in nursing from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, a Master of Science degree in nursing from Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, also from Syracuse University.

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