Women's Health Hero

Barbara Keddy

Barbara Keddy is thrilled to be named a Women’s Health Hero.

The professor emerita with Dalhousie’s School of Nursing is one of 20 women worldwide named to the distinction by Our Bodies Ourselves, a public interest women’s health education and advocacy organization based in Boston, Mass.

“It’s such a privilege and an honour,” says Dr. Keddy. “I was quite shocked actually.”

The women’s health collective is best known for publishing the landmark book Our Bodies, Ourselves, now in its eighth edition, as well as numerous other publications and online resources providing accurate, non-commercial information about women's health and sexuality.

The group decided for the first time to spotlight the diversity of care, education and activism in communities around the world by naming Women’s Health Heroes. They asked readers “Who’s your women's health hero?” and received nearly 100 nominations from 12 countries.

The 2009 inaugural inductees represent a wide range of health fields and disciplines. Among them: Elisabeth Bing, founder of Lamaze Childbirth Preparation Method; Efua Dorkenoo, an activist against female genital mutilation; Jenni Prokopy, founder and editor of ChronicBabe.com; Susan Corrado, a community parish nurse in Wisconsin; and Bene E. Madunagu, a professor of botany in Nigeria. Carolyn Thomas, a heart attack survivor and educator on women’s heart disease, and Dr. Keddy are the two Canadians on the list.

Josephine B. Etowa, associate professor with Dalhousie’s School of Nursing, nominated her former teacher for the honour. In her letter, she calls Dr. Keddy an “exemplary health scholar and women’s health advocate.”

“She goes beyond the call of duty to address the needs of the women around her, especially women from marginalized populations,” wrote Dr. Etowa, currently on sabbatical. “This is evident in the nature of her personal research and those of her graduate students.”

Since retiring from teaching, Dr. Keddy has concentrated her research on fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain and fatigue. Last year, she published the book, Women and Fibromyalgia: Living with an Invisible Dis-ease (iUniverse Co.). She was also a contributor Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause, published by Simon and Schuster in 2006.