Between family, work and all of life’s responsibilities, it can be hard to make your health a priority. The Alliance supports women of all ages to take steps to improve their health. Your physical and mental health are important!
National Women’s Health Week is May 14-20. Here are a few ways to take care of your health year-round. These were shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Get regular checkups
Checking in regularly with your doctor can help you build trust and good communication so you can get the most out of your health care.
Checkups can also help you:
- Prevent disease.
- Stay healthy.
- Get medical advice.
- Keep up to date with the vaccines and prescriptions that you need.
Call your doctor to make an appointment.
Screenings
While you are at a checkup appointment with your doctor, you can get important health screenings. Screenings help check for health problems before you have symptoms.
You may want to check in with your doctor about getting screened for:
- Cervical cancer. Getting an HPV or Pap test could help prevent cervical cancer or find it early. If you are a woman 21 years or older, talk to your doctor about cervical cancer screening. For more information, visit the CDC’s website.
- Breast cancer. Women ages 50-74 with an average risk for breast cancer should get a mammogram every 2 years If you are 40 to 49 years old, talk to your doctor about getting screened for breast cancer at least once per year.
- Colorectal cancer. If you are 45 to 75 years old, you should be screened once a year for colorectal cancer. We answer common questions about colorectal cancer screening in our Ask the Doctor article.
Get active and eat a healthy diet
Healthy eating and physical activity can reduce the risk of obesity-related health problems. That’s why the Alliance provides scholarships for members to participate in the Wellness that Works program.
The CDC offers some tips on their website. You can find out more about:
Take care of your mental health
Your behavioral health is an important part of your overall health and wellness. Alliance members can get mental health services through our partner, Carelon Behavioral Health.
You can get help with concerns like:
- Anger.
- Anxiety, phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
- Autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention-deficit disorder (ADD).
- Depression.
- Difficulty coping with life changes, frustration and stress.
- Drug or alcohol use.
- Over exercise and eating disorders.
- Grief and loss.
- Stress.
- Childhood traumas and other traumas.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
If you are dealing with any of these, you are not alone. Many people need support for these challenges at some point in their lives.
Call Carelon Behavioral Health’s toll-free access line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 855-765-9700.
Learn more about services on our Behavioral Health Care webpage.
Prenatal and postpartum care
The Alliance offers a Healthy Moms and Healthy Babies (HMHB) program. This program helps pregnant women get early prenatal and postpartum care. Health educators share information about:
- Prenatal and postpartum health.
- Breastfeeding.
- Pediatric care.
- Parenting.
Questions?
We care about our members! If you would like to ask questions about the services available to you, give us a call. You can call Alliance Member Services at 800-700-3874, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
If you need language assistance, we have a special telephone line to get an interpreter who speaks your language at no cost to you. For the Hearing or Speech Assistance Line, call 800-735-2929 (TTY: Dial 711).
