We Can All Be Women’s Health Advocates This Women’s Health Month!
By Olivia Milne, Communications Intern, Society for Women’s Health Research
The gender health gap impacts every aspect of health care, as biological sex differences between males and females influence overall health, disease progression, symptoms, and treatment outcomes. Prior to the 1990s, these differences were largely overlooked in clinical research, resulting in limited research on female-specific conditions and therefore gaps in our understanding of how diseases affect women. In 1993, the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act, was signed into law, requiring NIH-funded clinical trials to include women and minorities in research. While this legislation marked a major step toward advancing women’s health, decades of limited research have contributed to persistent misunderstandings and knowledge gaps that still affect women’s health care today. This Women’s Health Month, the Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR) is calling on policy, advocacy, and disease-specific organizations to help close the gender health gap and advance equitable health care for women. Women’s health is all health, and we each have a role to play in improving the health of women.
The Women’s Health Gap
Between 2013 and 2023, women’s health research received an estimated 8.8% of total federal research funding annually. The overt impact of this disparity is a lack of understanding of diseases and conditions that exclusively impact women (like menopause and endometriosis), differently impact women (like obesity and cardiovascular disease), and disproportionately impact women (autoimmune diseases, migraine, and Alzheimer’s disease, to name a few). For example, conditions, that affect both men and women, like Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular disease, are still under researched in regard to their unique impacts on women, meaning the screenings and treatments women receive may be less effective or their risks and symptoms misunderstood. The women’s health gap also extends to needing more general research on the impact of menstruation and hormones throughout the lifespan. Additionally, for too long, research into the impacts of certain treatments and medications on maternal health has been lacking. To ensure the health and wellbeing of both moms and babies, pregnant and lactation populations are crucial groups that must be included in research.
Women’s health also refers to non-disease aspects of health, including caregiving, workplace wellness, and care decision-making. Caregiving is a huge factor in women’s health care; approximately 66% of unpaid family caregivers are women and roughly 80% of all health care decisions are made by women for their families in the United States. Caregiving can involve a great deal of time and financial resources, in addition to the need to be both physically and mentally present around the clock. Women are present at all intersections of the health care system, so we must appropriately include them in our research, care plans, and education efforts.
Our Unique Roles as Women’s Health Advocates
There are meaningful opportunities for policy reform, advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration to address these gaps in women’s health—and all organizations have a role to play. Disease-specific organizations are uniquely positioned to incorporate women’s health into their initiatives by pushing for improved consideration of sex differences in their field’s research; educating their members on the role of sex differences; and ensuring their resources and materials consider sex and gender. Policy organizations can help close the women’s health gap by advocating for legislation that improves women’s health and taking time to educate lawmakers on the importance of women’s health and sex differences research. Advocacy groups have a role to play by bringing women's health messages to their Hill Days and congressional meetings; getting involved in women's health and sex differences coalitions; and ensuring their advocates are educated on the gender health gap—and how disease and conditions differently impact men and women.
Even at the individual level, we have a role to play. The From Awareness to Action: A Guide to Women’s Health Advocacy outlines the individual steps we can all take to advocate for women’s health, providing a practical framework for understanding the advocacy process within women’s health. There is an opportunity for us all to be women’s health advocates – and there’s no better time than this May, Women’s Health Month!
From patients and caregivers to advocates, health care professionals, and researchers, inclusive research leads to better outcomes—not only for women, but for everyone. Learn more about women’s health advocacy and the Society for Women’s Health Research at swhr.org.