Supporting the battle for gender equality in health

Known as the ‘determinants of health’, these are often social and economic factors that make it more likely for people to experience good, or conversely poor, health outcomes. This can be reflected in people’s life expectancy and their likelihood of experiencing chronic and long-term conditions. It can also be demonstrated in levels of stress and other mental health outcomes. Much of the research and evaluation work undertaken by the Centre for Health Promotion Research is related to health inequalities, with one strand in particular focusing on women. 

Gender is a strong influence on health and wellbeing, and there is a wealth of evidence detailing the impact of societal gendered inequalities on health from across the globe. The Covid-19 pandemic has halted progress towards gender equality for many women, affecting them at work as well as at home. The many crises ongoing in the world are also affecting women disproportionately. For example, the impacts of war, and migration result in gendered health inequalities.

The fight for gender equality has been taking place since the 1800s and despite many gains, disparities remain, which ultimately underpin health inequalities. 

Our research at Leeds Beckett University has focused on the health of women and girls, focusing on those who are described as the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. CHPR staff have evaluated many interventions aiming to improve the health of women, including work to support survivors of domestic abuse, and NHS clinics providing care for survivors of FGM, working to co-produce evidence with women, creative and participatory methods have been developed and used to illustrate voice. Indeed, co-production processes themselves have been evaluated, for women surviving sexual assault who were then involved in service design. There is much health promotion learning here, for the women themselves, as well as for the staff conducting the research work which is emotional labour in its very nature, as discussed in a recently published book chapter reflecting on the value of feminist research for health promotion.  

Recently, research undertaken at Leeds Beckett suggested that women in prison faced greater challenges in their health attainment in comparison to men in prison. Some women’s health issues went unmet and the policies and practices within the prison were often heavily focused on men and so women found far greater challenges. This was particularly the case in those not speaking English as a first language and older women.  

The need for this type of research work is ever urgent, policy-makers and practitioners need to know what works to effectively support women with complex and multiple health needs, as the social determinants of health continue to lead to gender-specific challenges for women, something that they often speak about to CHPR researchers.