Review 

A Woman’s Health Resources Journal

Lisa Copen of Rest Ministries has created a great book, A Woman’s Health Resources Journal, that helps women understand and organize practically all the information that they need for communicating on medical issues. This greatly simplifies working with medical people, pharmacists, insurance companies, the government, and anyone concerned with their health.

From the standpoint of a disability lawyer, it is a dream. Clients using this book will come to legal interviews prepared to outline their cases very quickly. I intend to recommend it to women clients, and hope Ms. Copen will soon publish a similar book for men.

If they read this book and complete the various short questionnaires and checklists, women will come prepared and confident to all kinds of health-related conversations. I would expect Lisa’s readers to surmount obstacles faster than most, and to get much more benefit from the time they spend with their doctors.

The loose leaf book is arranged in four main categories,  

1. physicians & insurance; 
2. pharmacy, labs & surgery; 
3. pain & illness; 
4. lifestyle; and notes. 

The Journal has a very specific table of contents that takes readers directly to the subject of interest where they find discussion and brief questionnaires or checklists. 

The convenience of organizing and having these varied kinds of health information in one handy loose leaf book will repay the reader’s $24.95 expenditure (plus $4 shipping/handling) many times over.

In using the book, however, readers must remember that numbers and statistics change with time, and verify them before acting on them. For example, where at page 50 the book says one might be disqualified from SSDI benefits by earning as little as $500 a month, the figure is now $780 a month. It is even wise to check with a Social Security claims representative before assuming that numbers in Social Security publications are up to date. The agency often furnishes publications that contain out of date figures.

A Woman’s Health Resources Journal is very pleasant to browse and read. This is unusual for a book on an emotion-charged subject like health. The book leads you naturally into each subject, and usually satisfies. My mother and sister asked me to buy them the book after leafing through my review copy for only a few minutes. My sister appreciated that so many pages conclude with an apt quotation or Bible verse that refreshes. Again, if Lisa publishes a book like this for men, she can be sure of me as a customer. Reviewed by Doug Smith 

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 A Woman’s Health Resources Journal ISBN 0-9716598-0-X, loose leaf binder 7.25 x 9.25 inches, Copen Publishing, P.O. Box 502928,San Diego, CA 92150, Telephone: 888-751-REST $24.95 (plus $4 shipping/handling).

Added April 2, 2002