The Women’s Health Institute and the Mission Hill Health Movement are teaming up to offer a women’s health group for local residents.
“I want to empower women to make their own health decisions,” said Women’s Health Institute President Catherine DeLorey, who will be running the new group. DeLorey is a registered nurse who holds a doctorate degree in public health and has done public health nursing in Peru and England. She started the Women’s Health Institute in 1980.
The first meeting will be held at the Mission Hill Health Movement’s office at 1534 Tremont St. on Sept. 3 and the first Tuesday of every month thereafter. The meetings are free to attend.
DeLorey said she wants to help women to determine their own health plan by assessing their health status, such as eating habits and their environment, and then have them set up their own goals and action steps.
“It is a women-only group because the health content will be specific to women, and in doing health groups men, as well as women, prefer to be in their own gender group,” she said.
DeLorey gave an anecdote of a previous Latino health group she ran. One discussion was centered on nutrition and a woman mentioned she always cooked rice and beans with lard because that’s the way her family liked it. The group suggested she use 75 percent lard and 25 percent olive oil, which is healthier. She did that without the family noticing, so she kept on increasing the amount of olive oil until she was using 100 percent.
“That’s the way we work,” said DeLorey.
She said she expects to start each meeting with meditation and probably end that way, too. DeLorey said she will give the women tips on keeping focused throughout the day. She said she hopes to have a diverse group, including Latinos, African-Americans and Asian-Americans.
For more information, contact DeLorey at 617-739-2923 or [email protected].