BY MAXINE BERKMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Greater Cincinnati women who resolve to be in peak health by the millennium can jump start their efforts at the fourth annual Speaking of Women's Health Conference in March at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, Covington.
The conference, "Into the 21st Century," is expected to draw more than 2,400. Invitations will be mailed next week. In past years, tickets have sold out quickly, says Kathleen DeLaura, conference executive director.
Conference topics will include doctor-patient relationships, weight management, mind-body connection, hormone replacement therapy, heart disease, allergies, spirituality and health, headaches, sexuality, plastic surgery, breast cancer, exercise and nutrition, sleep problems and fiscal fitness.
Among national speakers will be Pat Heim, gender-related communications expert and humorist; Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall, director of Eli Lilly and Co.'s Centre for Women's Health; Kate Hamilton of Canyon Ranch spa in Tucson, Ariz.; Dr. Marisa Weiss, breast cancer specialist; Terry Savage, Chicago Sun-Times financial columnist; Christine Dugas, USA Today financial columnist, and Richard
H. Rossiter, carpal tunnel syndrome, pain and repetitive stress injuries consultant.
Breakout speakers will include Dr. Margery Gass, obstetrician-gynecologist; Lilias Folan, yoga expert; Ann Kearney-Cooke, psychologist and body image expert;Rhonda Gates weight management expert and Dr. Marilyn Gaston,assistant surgeon general.
Conference honorees will include Sue MacDonald, Enquirer health writer; Maureen Wood, Women's Research and Development Center executive director, and Dr. Denise Davis, obstetrician-gynecologist.
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IF YOU GO
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What: 1999 Speaking of Women's Health Conference, featuring eight keynote speakers and 14 sessions led by more than 44 physicians and health care professionals.
When: March 19-21.
Where: Northern Kentucky Convention Center, Covington.
Tickets: $25 (includes some meals). Tickets are limited. For invitation: 345-6587.
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Launched as a one-day conference in 1996, the Speaking of Women's Health Conference has expanded to seven other cities. It circulates a quarterly newsletter to 13,000 Greater Cincinnatians, has a health information line staffed by a registered nurse and, after Dec. 15, will have a Web site: http://www.swh.net
"Before the conferences, I never realized the tremendous quest for knowledge among Cincinnati women," says Speaking of Women's Health founder Dianne Dunkelman of Amberley Village. "They drive the conferences by telling us what they need and what they want to know."
Speaking of Women's Health underwrites the 30-minute "Focus 48" series about women's health on WCET (Channel 48) and is Cincinnati sponsor of the PBS feature "Health Week." It has awarded grants to women's organizations, funded scholarships for University of Cincinnati medical students and established a Girls' Health Project with the WCET Education Division to provide materials to teachers and parents about girls' development and well-being.
Complementing the conference will be a miniseries of activities called "Health, Wealth and Wisdom." The first will be "Exercise," 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Jan. 8 at Midtown Health and Fitness, 5400 Kennedy Ave., Columbia Township. Cost: $20. Registration: 345-6587. Conference sponsors: Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and Procter
& Gamble, with additional funding from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Fifth Third Bank, Lazarus - Federated Department Stores Inc. and other sources. Conference proceeds will benefit public television programming for women and organizations that enrich women's lives.
