Gender and the Development of Health Policy - Essay Example

Notions of Gender Have Significantly Informed the Development of Health Policy and of Health Care Practice Since the early 1970s, gender inequality has been a core area of study in sociological research. It rose to eminence quickly owing to the interest in social relations of gender which tested the theoretical, empirical and methodological centre of sociology (Sen and Östlin, 2010:72). This has been the vital element of feminists’ to attempt to challenge the detrimental effects of patriarchy on women’s health. This has been through finding explanation for differences in female and male mortality and morbidity rates with the interest in connection between differences in the women’s social status and their health. This paper illustrates how notions of gender have significantly contributed to the development of health policy and the development of health care. Health policy is aimed at being a vessel for discussion and exploration of issues in the health system. In particular, it is intended to promoting communication between the health policy and legislators, system researchers, professionals and decision makers who are concerned with development and implementation of health systems and reforms in health care. These policies and reforms are being made in an ever increasing pace and policy makers are forced to look over to other countries to find solutions to their own problems. The commitment of health policy is to ensure that there is international dialogue that makes sure that policies are put into practice based on specific issues and goals as well as in the particular situations (Walsh, 2004:146). Looking back at history, there was a growing strength of women’s movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. This growth challenged the ‘medicalisation’ of bodies of women and the structure of women’s medical health needs as dissimilar from their own priorities and experiences. The women’s movement went ahead and questioned the myth that male partners or doctors had better knowledge about their bodies than the women themselves knew (David 2008). This represented the women experiences in sexual, physical, mental and reproductive health needs. Based on the social, economic and political forces that influenced heath, they analysed their experiences and searched for the connections between class, race and gender-based coercion and the way they affected the women (Graham, 2009:146). According to David (2008), there was evolution of the concepts of gender and gender analysis from feminist point of view that emphasised the cultural and social nature of most of the differences between women and men. This is particularly the status attributed to them and the unbalanced power pointed to male and female roles. The thinking slowly passed through a filter to the developments of debates on health and development. The important role played by gender analysis created an ideal around reproductive health acceptable globally in Cairo during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). This made the women activists to put reproductive principles and rights at a centre stage and compelled governments to recognise that the state control of capacities of women’s reproduction was a violation of their rights. Dowler and Spencer (2007) explains how this happened to be an effective argument against demographic and economic theories that justified the policies that were a threat to the health of the women and at the same time redirecting the scarce resources from basic health care for the poor (62). Simultaneously there existed also a small body but growing, of literature which explored the gendered element of the male’s health. It was about seeking answers to why men behaved in a more risky manner, why they used fewer preventive services and why they were on the low side of health care participation despite being concerned with important health issues and problems (Robinson, 2004). It looked like to build and sustain a male identity often needed them to take risks that could be severely hazardous to health. It also was found out that women and men are made by their social experiences in the society and the roles they play and not just their own biology. Gender analysis had to prevail over general bias to characterise every difference that lie beneath the biological basis. Body illness and heath knowledge is build culturally, and is more shown in the case of knowledge about women health needs. Though Biological factors may chip in to the differences of women’s and men’s health, a study merging both medical and social points of view came to a conclusion. The conclusion stated that the wide range of processes involved in social environment can develop and sustain or intensify the underlying biological differences (World Bank, 2005). After 1980 there was a shift that recognised gender analysis as the key to understanding of health. The modification of policy approaches was from Women in Development to Gender and development. In addition, it was with increasing acknowledgement that women and other susceptible groups be engaged at all policy and project levels (Fritzell and Lundberg, 2007:204). This resulted to the so called gender perspective becoming widely known within all aspects of research, practice and policy with an objective of a better health care. There are also considerable hindrances to the translation of research finding to policy and practice. The relationship that exists between policy and practice is not straight forward (Dowler and Spencer, 2007:61). And so, it cannot be assumed that when there is more research there is definitely more proof based policy. The likelihood of research findings to be translated to policy and practice is when the researchers involve policy makers and managers. They should be involved in the development of the framework for research and the centre of attention of the research if the researchers assume their responsibility for ensuring their studies are translated into policy (Fritzell and Lundberg, 2007:196). Gender order has a complex a shifting nature that poses major issues when it comes to conceptualising research on gender inequalities. The diversity that exist influences the way we understand the emerging patterns of gender inequality which opens up other divisions within male and within female, and advances new common experiences between some women and some men. This being the new theoretical understanding, it is now central to studies on the health inequalities and promoted by the need to embrace the complexity of the discussion while acknowledging that likeness is crosscut by diversity (Nicholas, 2010). According to World Health Organisation (2010) however, a well known risk of gender inequalities that a research might face failure is if the acknowledgements of sheer complexity dissolve into relativism. The feminist researchers started to critically engage in these debates by the end of 1990s which was quite compulsorily. The perspective that the social world is still controlled by a powerful drive of dualistic system, very serious concerns were raising as to how gender inequality can be studied by looking at the health status. For example, the ability to accommodate women’s diversity seems possible considering a public patriarchy may structure women in different ways that inequalities are generated (Holtz, 2008). The extent to which it is possible for a concern with similarities between women and men that can be incorporated and the aspect of male oppression under patriarchy is more debatable. This raises the need for feminism to continue using the balance on sex and gender as oppositional culture to force the breaking of discrimination and oppression by identifying an agenda of a way of preventing differences between sexes. This disagrees with those who are concerned to postmodern approaches to gender (Raza and Murad, 2010). Gender comparative is an essential approach to the surfacing recent approach to gender inequalities in health. This does not suggest or mean that all the things are equal, instead, at times of important change , it is critical that the operation of social relations of gender be considered as these relations impact on the health of women and men (Rootman, Dupéré, Pederson and ONeill, 2012). Though it is poorly perceived by the traditional framework as favouring men, the new framework shifts away from this and acknowledges the complex ways that social relations of gender function. But there are many other acceptable instances that it is proper to concentrate on the differences contained by men or women. The other one pressing concern in research of gender inequalities in health is the necessity to explicitly integrate a concern for gender order in empirical analysis. Traditionally gender order is approached from the aspect of statuses and roles. This means that there is little or no sense at all of gender further than the level of the secluded individual (Holtz, 2008). By conquering this there two but related approaches in which to consider gender order explicitly. Theoretical approach is the first one which involves the clear identification of what gender order consists of and the way it impacts upon health in ways that it is possible to specify in experimental research. In qualitative research, data analysis is used and the approach is deductive in nature, and on the other hand concepts and operations of quantitative research (inductive in nature) will be determined through data collection (Hankivsky, 2011). Direct inclusion of concepts that tap the environment of gender order and how it may affect health status of women and men has been greatly restricted to date. The problem here is equally technical and methodological. When a research done in the U.S.A is considered, whereby in the analysis of mortality and morbidity, women were found to experience a higher mortality and morbidity in the states where they have lower levels of political contribution and economic independence. Men living in such places have unfavourable consequences for their health. Although this analysis tends to structure, researchers recognise that, since the data is in average form rather than a representation of individuals, the data risks an ecological misleading notion assuming that it would also exist at individual level (Shepherd, 2004). Health has been promoted and protected by gender sensitive investigation approaches which have helped to point out inequalities in access to resources. Results from research have demonstrated how gender relations and roles impact on not only on main diseases but also access and adherence to services and the effects of diseases on individuals and households (David, 2008). The several ways in which poverty and gender interweave to nature health outcomes and experiences, need to be acknowledged and put into practice for health policy and health practice to be sustainable, efficient and equitable. References David, M.E. (2008) ‘Social inequalities, gender and lifelong learning: A feminist, sociological review of work, family’ International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 28, no.7/8. Dowler, E. & Spencer, N.J. (2007) Challenging health inequalities: from acheson to choosing health, The Policy Press. Fritzell, J. & Lundberg, O. (2007) Health inequalities and welfare resources: continuity and change in Sweden, The Policy Press. Graham, H. (2009) Understanding health inequalities, McGraw-Hill International. 2009 Hankivsky, O. (2011) Health inequities in Canada: intersectional frameworks and practices, UBC Press. Holtz, C. (2008) Global health care: issues and policies, Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Nicholas, R. (2010) ‘HIV prevention for young women of Uganda must now address poverty and gender inequalities’ Journal of Health Organisation and Management, vol. 24, no. 5. Raza, A. & Murad, H.S. (2010) ‘Gender gap in Pakistan: a socio-demographic analysis’ International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 37 no. 7. Robinson, J. (2004) ‘Building a better health and social care workforce: challenges in policy and practice’ Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 10, no. 4. Rootman, I., Dupéré, S., Pederson. A. & ONeill, M. (2012) Health promotion in Canada: critical perspectives on practice, Canadian Scholars’ Press. Sen, G. & Östlin, P. (2010) Gender equity in health: the shifting frontiers of evidence and action, Taylor & Francis. Shepherd, J. (2004) ‘Male bodies: health, culture and identity’ Health Education, vol. 100, no. 5. Walsh, M. (2004) Sociology for health carers: foundations in nursing and health care series, Nelson Thornes. World Bank (2005) World development report 2006: equity and development, World Bank Publications. World Health Organisation, (2010) Gender, women and primary health care renewal: a discussion paper, World Health Organisation. Read More