24 Mar Bridging the Healthcare Gap: Addressing Disparities in Women’s Health During Women’s History Month
March is Women’s History Month and as we celebrate it’s important to remember and reflect on the disparities women face especially in the field of healthcare. Despite medical advancements and policy reform, women routinely face significant gaps in access, treatments, and health outcomes. The disparities are intensified even further when race is taken into consideration. For example, Black and Latino women have faced systemic barriers in healthcare that have compromised their overall well-being. These obstacles can have dire outcomes for the women in these communities.
Pervasive disparities stem from several key areas, one of which is healthcare research.
Decades of clinical trials have not adequately represented women. Men have historically been utilized in medical research resulting in biases in treatments and diagnostics. This has negative implications for women’s health outcomes. For example, fields such as cardiology, pain management, and rheumatology are seeing rising levels of disparities as fewer quality treatments are available for women. This gap is the result of fewer women being included in research studies.
Beyond disparities in research, women face unique challenges battling a variety of diseases.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men and women, but women are not as likely to receive timely and adequate treatment. Female heart attack symptoms can often differ from their male counterparts which are considered to be the typical signs, leading to delayed intervention or misdiagnosis. As a result of these failures in the medical field, women are less likely to be prescribed life-saving medications when experiencing heart attacks.
When diagnosing and treating pain management and chronic illness, we see similar shortcomings as well. Women are at a higher risk of chronic pain conditions but they are frequently dismissed by healthcare providers. Research has concluded that women’s pain is on average more attributed to psychological factors rather than physiological causes. Over time this can lead to increasingly negative health outcomes for women.
It is also important to remember that women are diverse and certain groups face distinct health challenges.
Black, Latino, and Native women experience poorer health outcomes when compared to their white counterparts. For example, Black women are approximately three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications when compared to white women. Latinas and Native women facing similar complications. These disparities occur regardless of income or education level. Some contributing factors can include inadequate prenatal care, dismissal of pain or symptoms, and structural barriers in the healthcare system that can prevent timely medical intervention.
Women in the Muslim community face unique challenges navigating the healthcare system. Due to a lack of female clinicians, many Muslim women report delaying care. This underscores the importance of incentivizing and supporting female professionals in the medical sector to ensure better access to care.
The role of implicit bias in healthcare in regards to women should not be understated, especially for black women. Studies show that black women are even more likely to have their pain level underestimated by medical professionals. Medical professionals are also less likely to offer more aggressive treatment options for black female patients. As a result, the women in the black community have felt a lack of trust in the healthcare sector, which often leads to postponing medical care until conditions worsen.
Similarly, many in the Asian community delay or avoid treatment in healthcare settings because of discrimination. In one national study, over 11% of Asian Americans reported receiving unfair treatment in a healthcare setting because of their English-language ability.
As we reflect and celebrate Women’s History Month it is important for us to not only face these unfortunate facts but work to improve the future for women across America and beyond.
One of the ways we can do this is by increasing the diversity in medical research. Having more diverse representation with more female and black-specific studies can increase the treatment effectiveness for these groups and provide equitable care.
Advocacy is also an important aspect of these issues as being heard and represented is the first step in effectuating meaningful change.
Whether it is individually, as a patient, or as part of a coalition, voicing the need to improve women’s health is paramount to building understanding and driving solutions that empower women and improve their health and well-being.