We all have blind spots—Including doctors. Every day, in hospitals and healthcare industries across the country, physicians and other researchers are working to improve treatments and find cures for a variety of diseases.
They’re developing new technologies, drugs and approaches to conditions that range from life-threatening diseases to problems that negatively impact our qualities of life. Despite our best intentions, sometimes we don’t always take into account the actual real-life perspectives of the people we’re doing this work for.
This is why we’re so excited to be launching the Engaging and Amplifying Women’s Voices in Stress Urinary Incontinence project. It’s a program that’s built around listening to what women have to say about their bladder issues. What you have to say about bladder issues.
When you take part in our survey, you’ll be able to voice the real world concerns and challenges that so many women share but never have the chance to express and be heard—especially Black women. Participating in this survey is an important way to make sure that your unique insights inform healthcare providers, and it can help shape research that will be done for years to come.
With that in mind, our question to you is this: Do you leak when you laugh, cough, bend or move? If you’ve ever lived with urinary incontinence, whether a lot or a little, please take a few moments to fill out this survey and become a part of the Stress urinary incontinence patient network.
—Shenelle Wilson, MD, urologist, Metro Atlanta Urology and Pelvic Health Center, Kennesaw, GA; and Una Lee, MD, Urology Physician Lead, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, Seattle, WA
