NurseWeek

Interactive Exhibit focuses on women’s health

By Debra Rothschild Levy
October 24, 2000


	You've read the article. Now tell us what you think. Related sites The Women's Health Project The Changing Face of Women's Health Exhibit on the Web San Francisco Exploratorium Women's Health Exhibits on the Web

San Francisco. A national touring interactive exhibition exploring attitudes about women’s health opened this month at San Francisco’s Exploratorium.

Through interactive exhibits, art, video and text, "The Changing Face of Women’s Health" traces the facts and misconceptions about women’s health in America during the last century. It also offers women an opportunity to identify their particular risk factors for illnesses and conditions such as breast cancer, osteoporosis and hormone replacement therapy.

The purpose of the exhibition is to "dispel myths that women have about their own health issues and to provide them with the knowledge necessary to be more proactive about their own health care," Leslie Patterson, Exploratorium public information officer, said.

Of particular interest in October – National Breast Cancer Awareness Month – is the exhibit’s interactive display of four model breasts with simulated tumors. The visual display is accompanied by audio recordings made by the women whose tumors were replicated, in which they discuss their individual experiences with breast disease.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the CDC, Pfizer Women’s Health and Metropolitan Life Foundation, the exhibition is the first major touring presentation documenting health risks and diseases specific to women and how to prevent and treat them.

The exhibition will run through Jan. 1 at the Exploratorium, then move to Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles during the next three years.