WATROUS, Sask. – Good health is rooted in simple things, say rural Saskatchewan women who are examining what they need to stay healthy.
The 12 participants who answered questions at a Jan. 11 meeting held in Watrous, near the soothing waters of Lake Manitou, said prairie sunsets, space and friendly smiles are important for everyone.
They were the last of 20 focus groups that four federally funded centres of excellence for women’s health have held across Canada since last April. They are trying to find out what rural and remotely located women think about the health-care system.
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Margaret Haworth-Brockman, executive director of the Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence, which operates in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, said the project is adding women’s voices to the discussion about the future of health care in Canada.
“It’s just foolish not to include the voices of women,” Haworth-Brockman said, because women are “high users” of health care and make up 80 percent of all health-care workers.
“Fisherwomen in Newfoundland have different concerns than Metis women in northern B.C.”
The focus group results will be presented to some of the past participants at a meeting in Saskatoon in March. After that consultation, a paper listing their recommendations will be sent to politicians, research academics and healthÐcare administrators at regional, provincial and national levels, she said.
Besides nature, the Saskatchewan group listed the importance of living justly as a positive health factor.
“It’s a bad thing when I have to hope for a crop failure somewhere in the world,” one farm woman said.
Attitude also influences how people feel, they said.
When farmer and public health nurse Mary Smillie of Baldwinton, Sask., said Canadians live in a consumerist society, there were nods of agreement.
Sherron Reid of Watrous added: “When are we going to catch on there’s too much stuff?”
She said she realized while shopping before Christmas that there are already enough teddy bears in the world.
Smillie said too often the medical system dictates what good health is.
“But when you ask real people, they’ll say the air, the sky, a vacation.”
There was little disagreement when the women mentioned other concerns such as poor water quality, lack of confidentiality, high turnover of health professionals and lack of transportation to medical appointments in the city. But they disagreed when talking about whether government regulations are excessive.
Senior citizen Mae O’Hagan of Allan, Sask., questioned the need for a strict application of the rules on small rural nursing homes. She said two nurses had wanted to open a private care home in her town, but couldn’t because the rules were too onerous.
“If people are satisfied with the care, why should some bureaucrat in Regina stymie it?”
However, other women in the room felt the rules protect people from neglect and abuse.
Maybe the rules could be seen through a rural lens and be made “appropriate” to the situation, suggested Lil Sabiston of Kelliher.
The group mentioned several research gaps: a study of cancer rates in rural areas, particularly as related to farm chemicals; the safety of genetically modified food; prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Saskatchewan; and the risks of hormone replacement therapy.
After the meeting Reed said it was empowering “that someone actually wants to hear from rural women and maybe (it created) some confidence that these problems are solvable.”
Farmer Liz Gordon of Webb said she liked an idea that came out of the group discussion about a pilot project in Edmonton where the doctors are treating the whole person, not just a disease.
