The inspiring Let's Talk Women's Health & Wellness symposium will run from 9am-4pm on Saturday, March 29 at NJPAC.
Deb Belfatto is a breast cancer survivor and founder of Let's Talk Women's Health and Wellness. She joined WBGO's Doug Doyle to talk about the all-day event she created and the impetus to start her life-saving organization.
Belfatto says this year's symposium "Ignite Your Wellness Journey" will be another uplifting experience.
"It's really something. It's energy. It's sisterhood. It's information. It's women supporting women, women caring about women. We're going to open the day with our "Booming Voices," real stories about real women that have generously shared their truths. Then we roll into our first plenary session which is going to describe the state of New Jersey. We have our very own health commissioner Kaitlan Baston along with Balpreet Grewal-Virk from RWJ to discuss what we're getting better at and what we need to pay more attention to. So that's going to set the tone for the day. There's also music, movement and a wellness lounge that will introduce practices that women may already be familiar with or have never been comfortable thinking about a yoga practice or meditation. We offer a wide variety of curated wellness practices."
Belfatto says her first breast cancer diagnosis was in 1988.
"It was almost a little bit of the Dark Ages of breast cancer. We were coming of age, but we had a long way to go. I was in my early 30's. I had a young child and life was pretty great at the time. My diagnosis was alarming because the truth is back then it wasn't something that was familiar at all in young women. So, naturally the initial reaction 'Am I going to die?' But because of the access to resources and quality care, I was introduced tp a team at the University of Pennsylvania that essentially saved my life."
After Belfatto's second breast cancer diagnosis in 2021, she began to envision an all-day event that would bring healthcare experts and women together. In October 2022, the inaugural Let’s Talk Women’s Health & Wellness symposium launched at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center with leading experts, physicians, and wellness professionals engaged in panel discussions, breakout sessions, candid conversations and unique experiences.
Let's Talk, based in Jersey City, has five pillars of health and wellness and provides an actionable blue-print for creating whole-body health and wellness. Those pillars are:
*Physical Well-Being
*Mental Health
*Spiritual Wellness
*Financial Health
*Human Connection
Belfatto stresses the symposium is for women of all ages.
"I've watched the faces as women enter NJPAC in the past and there are faces of pure joy, but also faces of great trepidation, fearing what they are going to hear that they avoided for a long time. But I think we extend the warmest welcome that any event could extend and just say you're safe here. This is a sisterhood that truly cares about you and you can trust us."
Belfatto also stresses "sister tickets" are available for those who might not have the resources or access necessary to attend the symposium.
WBGO is one of the many media sponsors the big event. Click here For information about tickets to the March 29 symposium.
You can See Doug Doyle's entire interview with Deb Belfatto here.
