Closing the Gap: Addressing Gender Inequities in Healthcare

Despite rapid advances in the field of medicine, the needs and physiology of women and girls continue to be overlooked within the healthcare system. Women have been excluded from research and are underserved in domains such as cardiac health. This Health Gap impacts the health and quality of life of all women, especially those in marginalized communities. This video highlights the healthcare inequities faced by women around the world, and proposes actions that can be taken by students, healthcare professionals, and citizens to close the Gender Health Gap.

This video was made by McMaster Demystifying Medicine students Susanna MacLeod, Guneet Mahal, and Gursharan Mann.

Copyright McMaster University 2020  

References:
Benoit, C., Shumka, L., Vallance, K., Hallgrímsdóttir, H., Phillips, R., Kobayashi, K., ... &
Brief, E. (2009). Explaining the health gap experienced by girls and women in Canada: A social determinants of health perspective. Sociological Research Online, 14(5), 1-13.
 
Bierman AS, Ahmad F, Angus J, Glazier RH, Vahabi M, Damba C, Dusek J, Shiller SK, Li Y,
Ross S, Shapiro G, Manuel D. Burden of Illness. In: Bierman AS, editor. Project for an Ontario Women's Health Evidence-Based Report: Volume 1: Toronto; 2009. 

Bierman AS, Jaakkimainen RL, Abramson B, Kapral MK, Azad N, Hall R, Lindsay
P, Honein G, Degani N. Cardiovascular Diseases. In: Bierman AS, editor. Project for an Ontario Women's Health Evidence-Based Report: Volume 1: Toronto; 2009. 

Bierman AS, Johns A, Hyndman B, Mitchell C, Degani N, Shack
AR, Creatore MI, Lofters AK, Urquia ML, Ahmad F, Khanlou N, Parlette V. Social Determinants of Health and Populations at Risk In: Bierman AS, editor. Project for an Ontario Women's Health Evidence-Based Report: Volume 2: Toronto; 2012. 

Booth GL, Lipscombe LL, Bhattacharyya O, Feig DS, Shah BR, Degani N, Johns A, Ko B,
Bierman AS. Diabetes. In: Bierman AS, editor. Project for an Ontario Women's Health Evidence-Based Report: Volume 2: Toronto; 2010. 

Huxley, V. H. (2007). Sex and the cardiovascular system: the intriguing tale of how women and
men regulate cardiovascular function differently. Advances in physiology education, 31(1), 17-22. 

National Institutes of Health. (2020). How Sex/Gender Influence Health and

National Institutes of Health. (2001). NIH policy and guidelines on the inclusion of women

National Institutes of Health. (2020). Studying Sex to

Sarto, G. E. (2004). The gender gap: new challenges in women's health. Sexuality,
Reproduction and Menopause, 2(1), 9-14. 

Samulowitz, A., Gremyr, I., Eriksson, E., & Hensing, G. (2018). “Brave men” and “emotional
women”: A theory-guided literature review on gender bias in health care and gendered norms towards patients with chronic pain. Pain Research and Management, 2018.

POWER Study—Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report.

Women’s College Hospital—The Health Gap V2. (2016). The Health Gap. Retrieved September

[missrockafella]

I have just today read that women and girls don't have their pain taken seriously by the medical profession. No wonder a few months ago I read that the medical profession is full of misogny. Frightening to say the least if you are a woman or girl. Also criminal.

[karolinasoblinskyte]

Also is a huge gap betveen genders in nutrition "woman need less food, less meat then man" that's mean woman, not only have to eat less, but also less nutriciuos food

[mandlin]

I did not know women experience different heart attack symptoms.

Socioeconomic status makes healthcare of everyone not just women worse. However it is intersectional. Due to systematic sexism in healthcare. Geographic location is the same both genders are effected but yes usually if ya worse for men it’s ten times worse for women.

Race, in western medicine I saw a recent documentary about a black doctor who collected medical photos of skin conditions with darker skin tones. Because all the existing medical photos where of white skin only!!! I

[rilvamunoz-ccm]

Fechando a lacuna: abordando as desigualdades de gênero na saúde

[Correctrix]

OK, fine. But what about the epidemic of itchy scalp portrayed in this video?!

[allisterblue]

Finally, the wage gap... All people a bit familiar with reasearch papers know that once conflating factors are accounted for, only 2-4% of the 22% remains.

[vividius]

I'm not sure how much I believe this, I have two friends who've had appendectomies the first was a 14 year old girl who had the neatest and tiniest little incision scar and the other was a 22 year old guy who looks like he has a zipper on his stomach, make of that what you will

[otsutsukiindra]

Health research should focus more on women.

[allisterblue]

Also, all points about necessary differencies in treatment actually concern sex, not gender, this kind of confusion is one of the reasons why woman, which means adult human female in medicine, should probably not be used to speak of gender.

[karolinasoblinskyte]

Man "sick less" becouse they don't seek for help just suffer, thats why so little data about man heath.

[nietzschean]

Another gap that's the figment of ideologues imaginations.

[Jon-hi]

When are we going to see a male gender health study, or don't males count for much these days?