The Often, Not Discussed Pelvic Floor or…The Muscle That Slipped Between The Cracks
For the past 5 years I have been doing a variety of groups at Beth Israel Medical Center’s Karpas Health Information Center. Karpas is an amazing community center located in a storefront property at 1st Avenue at 18th street in Manhattan. Throughout the year the center offers a wide range of programs and I have lead groups on breath, pain management, fall prevention, chair yoga and Feldenkrias. In January of 2008, I approached the center about doing a program on the pelvic floor. Their first response was “why the pelvic floor” so I quickly highlighted some of the more obvious issues: incontinence and sexual function. Then I mentioned the pelvic floors influence on breathing and how a tight or lax pelvic floor could contribute to back, hip and knee pain. The center thought the topic would not generate enough interest and took a pass. A few months later, as the center was planning their spring schedule, I was approached about doing another program. I agreed to do one on breath and decided to use this as an opportunity to revisit the pelvic floor. Typically, my groups are 6 weeks so I asked if we could offer a 3-week program – to my surprise, they agreed.
The Karpas Center publishes a catalog 4 times a year listing their programs. A few days after the spring catalog was mailed, I received a call from Karpas - 25 people had registered for the program and would I be interested in doing a second group on the same day. I agreed. The next day I received a call from the center…the second group had filled up, would I be willing to do a third group? I agreed. We wound up having 4 groups of 25 people and a large waiting list. The following fall and spring we offered the pelvic floor program with the same result.
At the start of each program, I did an informal survey and asked the participants “has any health professional you use (doctor, physical/occupational therapist, midwife, etc) ever initiated a discussion of the pelvic floor?” Out of 300 people, only 4 raised their hands. Given the overwhelming response to the pelvic floor program, it seems there's a tremendous interest and need, which is not being addressed by health professionals. People want to talk about pelvic floor issues, but to date; health professionals seem hesitant to discuss this topic.
What are your thoughts/recommendations on how we can promote a dialogue between health professionals and the people they serve?
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