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7 - Opportunities for Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Chloe E. Bird  and
Patricia P. Rieker
Chloe E. Bird
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, RAND Graduate School
Patricia P. Rieker
Affiliation:
Boston University, Harvard Medical School, Simmons College
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Summary

Both sex and gender-based differences and similarities in men's and women's physical and mental health are well documented. As we have shown throughout this book, these differences are not due solely to biological factors. In fact, many clinical and social science researchers now recognize that social and biological factors interact in complex ways and can affect the health of men and women differently. Still we contend that something is missing from the dominant explanations of those health differences. What is missing is an understanding of constrained choice – that is, how decisions made and actions taken at the family, work, community, and government levels differentially shape the health-related choices of individual men and women. In this chapter, we summarize the main points discussed in previous chapters and use that information to highlight opportunities for change. The change we advocate is for men and women, as well as decision makers at all levels, to consider health a priority in making major and everyday choices. Moreover, this is a strategic moment for researchers and policymakers to address the multifaceted aspects of gender differences in health. After more than a decade of gender-oriented research, members of the medical professions and some policymakers have begun to examine closely the social, biological, and psychological differences and similarities between men and women. The call for gender-specific medicine is just one example of the profound shift in thinking about how sex and gender matter when it comes to health.

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Type
Chapter
Information
Gender and Health
The Effects of Constrained Choices and Social Policies
 , pp. 224 - 246
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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