Improving Women ’s Health Across the Life Span

Even though most patients of general internists and internal medicine specialists are women, our knowledge of women ’s health and illness is remarkably sparse. Women’s health is often conceptualized solely as reproductive health without consideration of health issues throughout the life span. Moreover, persons who are pregnant or could become pregnant are often excluded from clinical trials so that health car e choices for women of reproductive age are typically extrapolated from clinical research that was performed mostly among men. Women face complex social determinants of health, due to their disproportionate roles in birthing, raising children, caring for elderly individuals, and the need to navigate a society that is often misogynistic and sometimes hostile, even violent. In addition, the intersection of social identities like gender, sex, race, ethnicity, and class plays a crucial role in women’s well-being. Finally, there is much to learn about how health policies can support women’s hea lth.
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research