The health-care industry needs to pay much more attention to women. That's the argument laid out in a recent piece on MedCity News, which shared findings of a survey (.pdf) from the Center for Talent Innovation. That report shows that women make the majority of health-care decisions but are inadequately equipped to do so, and it calls on health-care companies, which are increasingly oriented towards consumers, to bridge that gap.
According to the survey, which included more than 9,200 respondents from the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, and Brazil, 94 percent of women make decisions for themselves and 59 percent make decisions for others; when working moms are considered separately, 94 percent make decisions for others. And yet, 58 percent of these decision makers lack confidence in their decision making.
The report says this is due to "three profound famines": lack of time, lack of knowledge, and lack of trust. Seventy-seven percent of women don't know what they need to do to stay healthy; 62 percent lack the time. Only 38 percent of working mothers passed a "health literacy quiz," and the report showed that women are unlikely to trust online information (31 percent), their insurance companies (22 percent), or pharmaceutical companies (17 percent).
The report suggests that health-care companies need to understand women in the context of their family and career responsibilities, which is quite different from standard male-based "life stage analysis." Moreover, they need to understand that women think about health more broadly than freedom from illness and health risks. Fully 79 percent said that health means "having spiritual and emotional wellbeing," while 77 percent called it "being physically fit and well rested."
An excellent place to start change is the management structure of health-care companies, the report suggests. Despite being the "CMOs" (Chief Medical Officers) for their families, women are underrepresented in other "C-level" roles in these companies:
We find that, while the health-care industry employs a large number of female professionals, their ideas, insights, and capabilities haven't been fully supported, endorsed, and promoted. Without women in power, women's ideas don't get the audience they deserve, because... leaders only see value in ideas they personally relate to or see a need for.
MedCity news writer Nina Ruhe sums up another area for improvement. "Doctors, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies can start instilling trust in women again by letting them know exactly what they should know in regards to their personal health and the health of their families," she writes.
Previously: XX in Health: Women Leading Healthcare conversation begins today, Stanford Gendered Innovations program offers tools for improving scientific research, Hannah Valentine: Leading the way in diversifying medicine, Advancing the careers of women in academic medicine, What would health reform (if it happens) mean for women? and Gap exists in women's knowledge of heart disease
Photo by Du Truong
