A New Women’s Health Era

The women’s health gap has shaped the way women perceive their health needs and how they interact with the health care system, impacting their quality of life.  Moving beyond the historical disparities in women’s health and the prospect of change requires understanding social, political and economic inequalities women continue to experience; being aware of the barriers women face with the healthcare system; consideration of sex and gender differences, physiological differences, cultural challenges and life circumstances; and more knowledge, research, education and accessible support to integrate proper and preventative healthcare for women throughout their lives.

For too long women’s health needs have been ignored, misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and hasn’t received the attention it requires. In a 2018 study, female patients whom treatment was not helpful or who perceived their condition differently to their doctor were considered to be ‘difficult’ and have ‘hysterical tendencies’. (1) The language used and misinterpretation of exaggeration is why women are more often not believed, overlooked or not taken seriously when it comes to their health concerns. This has posed risks to women being undiagnosed and suffering for years before properly receiving treatment (2).  Otherwise being misdiagnosed, and/ or having to live with side effects from medication prescribed at same dosage as men (3).  A 2019 analysis found that in 72% of cases, women waited longer on average for a diagnosis than men. When doctors don’t believe patients, it prevents them from getting help and in turn living with chronic pain creating mistrust with medical professionals.  The truth is women have different health symptoms, risks and concerns than men, and continue to face obstacles in seeking proper care. This is due to a healthcare system unequipped to support specific female needs while potentially putting them at risk instead of integrating preventable and effective treatments.  Understanding their specific needs and providing appropriate care, includes dismantling the historically misinformed judgment of symptoms women are experiencing and rebuilding a system that includes better female representation in research studies.  In fact, the inclusion of women in clinical research studies wasn’t mandated until the late 1990’s. (4)  

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”

Gloria Steinem

Despite various barriers women experience, the prospect for change in healthcare and a new women’s heath era is emerging.  Women are advocating for themselves and taking control of their wellbeing by speaking up about their health concerns and asking for a second opinion.  Women have recognized that their needs can be met by working with various practitioners, offering a variety of modalities.  Also, better representation of women’s health concerns is becoming increasingly diverse with more female healthcare providers. There are also a variety of organizations such as Women’s Health Collective Canada, Women’s College Research Institute and Canadian Women’s Heart Health Center to name a few, who are are committed to the research and support of women’s health.  

In January 2024, the World Economic forum held a meeting that brought experts together to discuss how to close the Women’s Health Gap and launched the Global Alliance for Women’s Health to change how women’s health is funded.  They discussed the projected impacts of redesigning and investing in women’s health.  At the meeting Paula Bellostas Muguerza, Senior Partner and Europe Co-Lead, Health at Kearney joined a press conference on Redesigning Healthcare with Women in Mind where she discussed her open letter, to call for action to redesign healthcare with women in mind.  “We do not understand female biology as well as we do that of men…We need to work on policy and advocacy. We need to redesign infrastructure for women-centric care.”  She goes on to state , “We need to rethink research and development, we need to close the data gap and then, finally, we need to reimagine medical education.” They also reviewed research that shows women spend more on their health than men, therefore for every $1 invested in women’s health, the report projects there would be around $3 in economic growth and could boos the global economy by $1trillion by 2040. Investing in closing the Women’s Health Gap will not only improve the economy but women’s the quality of life, from fewer early deaths and health conditions improving the quality of life for approximately 4 billion women, and would create a greater capacity for women to contribute to the economy and society.  

Traditional health care is changing and a new women’s health era is on the horizon.  Although health care providers are taking a new empathetic and holistic approach to working with patients, there’s a lot of work to be done in closing the Women’s Health Gap.  Moving beyond the historical disparities in women’s health requires understanding their specific needs and being aware of barriers they face. It also requires investing in equitable and inclusive research necessary to closing the pervasive knowledge gap towards providing proper healthcare for women in the future.  There is hope with the potential of appropriate treatment and preventative care that women need and deserve throughout all stages in life.