There has been a global push for feminism and issues such as equal pay, equal employment opportunities, abortion rights etc. have been a dominant part of this movement. When it comes to healthcare, women can play a critical role and that is why the healthcare industry needs to pay more attention to women.
According to a multi-market survey by the Center for Talent Innovation conducted with 9218 respondents from the UK, US, Germany, Japan and Brazil, women are the primary decision makers when it comes to healthcare for family members. This is especially true for working women with kids. The decisions that women take include choosing doctors, insurance providers and treatment plans.
However, the report also shows that 77 percent of women don't know what they need to do to stay healthy because they don't have the time to figure it out. Women also indicated that they do not trust online information, their insurance provider and the pharmaceutical companies. It is thus evident that doctors need to play a more active role in communicating necessary information.
A report from researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston shows that women are mostly excluded from clinical trials of new medicine and that is a major reason why those involved with these medicines do not consider the impact of the drugs on men and women. Even if women are included in such trials, reports do not analyse men and women's data separately thus failing to identify important differences that could impact the overall health of women.
It is important for healthcare companies, insurance companies and doctors to begin instilling trust in women and to communicate relevant information that could provide women with adequate knowledge in regards to their personal health and the health of their families.
Healthcare companies also need to start giving women positions of power. A report by Rock Health shows that women make up 78 percent of healthcare workers but only 4 percent of them hold CEO titles. The move to give more women senior positions is not simply because of feminism but because the study by Rock Health shows that colleagues rate women higher than men as effective leaders. Female leaders in healthcare have the potential to appeal to female healthcare decision makers as well as inform women about issues related to their personal health.
Thus, it is safe to conclude that the healthcare industry needs to start recognising women's role, their needs and their potential in healthcare.
Source: Nina Ruhe, MedCity News.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
