One's conclusion of a large-scale women’s health initiative study out next Tuesday.
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The research reports that 37% of tristate women are “highly stressed”
about the health of their parents, compared to 23% about their children
and just 15% about their spouses.
Being pulled in various directions — by kids, parents, work and more — goes with being in the Sandwich Generation.
But aging parents put the most pressure on, according to a survey of
1,876 women in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, and another 1,100
women and men around the U.S.
“Taking care of children isn’t easy, but it is more defined and
predictable,” said Stacey Ellyn Rosen, M.D., a cardiologist and vice
president at Northwell Health, the New York State Health provider that
released the study. “Taking care of older parents is more unpredictable
and less defined.”
Related concerns range from health, medical and legal issues to home
safety and beyond. “The responsibilities are less charted,” Rosen told
the Daily News. “Women were much more stressed about parents than
children.”
The survey — co-commissioned by Northwell Health and NRC Health, which works with health care organizations — had more to say about women are stressed by.
It found that 43% of tristate women are stressed about achieving work-life balance, compared to 38% of women nationally.
“We always suspected,” said Rosen, “that New Yorkers, specifically
women in the tristate area, are dealing with extra pressures.”
So how to take the pressure off? Rosen offered tips:
• Take care of your own health. Make yourself a priority, so you can help others.
• Find partners to help you. “You can’t do it all on your own. You can’t wear a superhero cape every day,” said Rosen.
• Cut yourself some slack. You don’t have to be perfect. “Women, more than men, forget that,” she said.
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