Closing the Gap

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C. Mastroianni ◽  
Leslie Meltzer Henry
Keyword(s):  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Research Participation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Closing The Gap ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Policies And Practices

Drawing on the ethical principles of the Belmont Report, this chapter critically examines the legacy and current policies and practices in the United States related to the inclusion of women in clinical research. Historically, protectionist policies and practices excluded women from research participation, justified by, for example, reliance on the male norm, male bias, and fears of legal liability resulting from tragic cases of fetal harm. Recognition of the ensuing harms to women’s health from exclusion and underrepresentation in research led to significant policy changes in the 1990s encouraging women’s participation in research. Although the knowledge gap in women’s health is narrowing, significant challenges remain, including the need to develop robust approaches to defining sex and gender, identifying and analyzing sex and gender differences, and acknowledging and addressing intersectionality and women’s health needs across their life spans.

scholarly journals Reversing the Trends toward Shorter Lives and Poorer Health for U.S. Women: A Call for Innovative Interdisciplinary Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1796 ◽  
Author(s):  
April Schweinhart ◽  
Janine Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
The United States ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The U.S

The United States (U.S.) is a leader and innovator in biomedicine, yet trails behind for many key health indicators, especially for women. This paper highlights key evidence indicating that not only is the state of women’s health in the U.S. lagging, but it is at risk for falling off the curve. Women’s health care remains fragmented; research in the field can be disconnected and difficult to integrate across disciplines—silos prevail. Structural obstacles contribute to this lack of cohesion, and innovative, interdisciplinary research approaches which integrate the multidimensional aspects of sex and gender, and race and ethnicity, with a life course perspective are sorely needed. Such synergistic, scientific strategies have the potential to reverse the trend towards shorter life expectancy and poorer health for women in the U.S. The National Institute for Health (NIH) seeks to raise the bar for the health of all women by tackling these issues through enhancing the relevance of biomedical research to the health of women and driving the sustained advancement of women in biomedical careers.

scholarly journals One drug does not fit all: impact of sex and gender on pharmacological response

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-17
Author(s):  
Flavia Franconi ◽  
Ilaria Campesi
Keyword(s):  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Pharmacological Response ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Gender Specific

It is important to remember that gender health and illness should not to be conflated with women's health and illness. Turshen1 reports that numerous studies with ‘gender’ in the title use the word gender as a synonym for ‘women’ and as a result, men's gender-specific needs are missed. In addition, in reporting demographic characteristics of the study participants, some clinical trialists use the term ‘gender’ and some ‘sex’ to indicate men and women and this may create confusion. It can be difficult to separate the two concepts, because there are continuous and constant interactions and relationships between sex and gender3. In other words, sex and gender work together. However, little attention is paid to the fact that gender is a sex modifier. It is relevant to have in mind that both sex and gender affect health and illness4.

scholarly journals Developing the Process and Tracking the Implementation and Evaluation of the National Institutes of Health Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 216495612110425
Author(s):  
Samia Noursi ◽  
Janine Austin Clayton ◽  
Ching-yi Shieh ◽  
Laura Sharon ◽  
Dawnkimberly Hopkins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
National Institutes Of Health ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Plan Implementation ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Women’S Health Research ◽  
And Gender

Background The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released Advancing Science for the Health of Women: The Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research, 2019–2023 (Strategic Plan) in February 2019. The NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) engaged staff members from across NIH to develop recommendations on the implementation and evaluation of the Strategic Plan. Objective: This paper describes the process used to develop recommendations for tools and approaches that NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) could apply when implementing and evaluating the Strategic Plan. Methods: A Trans-NIH Strategic Plan Implementation and Evaluation Guidance Development Team conducted meetings and individual interviews with 69 NIH staff members knowledgeable about research on the health of women and sex and gender differences and met with 11 Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health Strategic Plan Evaluation Working Group members. The purpose of these stakeholder meetings and interviews was to obtain recommendations for implementing the Strategic Plan and identify measures for evaluating implementation success. A thematic analysis was performed to synthesize and map the recommendations to the Strategic Plan goals and objectives. Results: The process resulted in the Guide for Implementing and Evaluating the 2019–2023 Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research Across NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (the Guide), which includes both a conceptual and logic model for implementation and evaluation. Conclusions: The Guide offers methods, tools, and suggestions that ICO planning and evaluation staff, as well as national and international entities, can choose from when determining how to implement the Strategic Plan through ICO activities, programs, and research initiatives and how to evaluate their efforts in the context of their unique mission.

Primary and Preventive Care of Women

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet B. Henrich
Keyword(s):  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Psychosocial Development ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Breast Cancer Incidence ◽  
Female Breast Cancer ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
And Gender

Women’s health can be defined as diseases or conditions that are unique to women or that involve gender differences that are particularly important to women. This definition acknowledges the increasing scientific evidence supporting a focus on sex and gender and expands the concept of women’s health beyond the traditional focus on reproductive organs and their function. Over time, the definition has come to include an appreciation of wellness and prevention, the interdisciplinary and holistic nature of women’s health, the diversity of women and their health needs over the life span, and the central role of women as patients and as active participants in their health care. This broader interdisciplinary perspective has important implications for clinicians providing care to women. In addition to understanding basic female physiology and reproductive biology, clinicians need to appreciate the complex interaction between the environment and the biology and psychosocial development of women. When dealing with conditions that are not specific to women, clinicians need to be aware of those aspects of disease that are different in women or have important gender implications. The ability to apply this information requires that clinicians adopt attitudes and behavior that are culturally and gender sensitive. Figures visualize female life expectancy, age-adjusted death rates, female breast cancer incidence and death rates, trends in female cigarette smoking, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines for preventive primary care in women.  This review contains 5 figures, 6 tables and 56 references.

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