Women speaking across the Border: The impact of the Border and the conflict on women's health and roles

This research was commissioned by Derry Well Woman and carried out on its behalf by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland in association with the Institute for Conflict Research and Rethink.The research had two distinct aims:- to improve understanding of the impact of the border and of the conflict on both sidesof the border on women’s health- to improve understanding of women’s roles, particularly as they impact on mental health, in post conflict society.- The research was conducted with a view to its recommendations being used to inform the work of the Cross Border Women’  Health Network as well as other cross border health forums or organisations responsible for service planning and delivery.- The findings of this research are based on a series of 31 in-depth interviews and one focus group with women both north and south of the border and on one focus group and six interviews with women who were specifically consulted as service providers.

WHO health topic: women's health.

Being a man or a woman has a significant impact on health, as a result of both biological and gender-related differences. The health of women and girls is of particular concern because, in many societies, they are disadvantaged by discrimination rooted in sociocultural factors. For example, women and girls face increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Some of the sociocultural factors that prevent women and girls to benefit from quality health services and attaining the best possible level of health include: * unequal power relationships between men and women; * social norms that decrease education and paid employment opportunities; * an exclusive focus on women’s reproductive roles; and * potential or actual experience of physical, sexual and emotional violence. While poverty is an important barrier to positive health outcomes for both men and women, poverty tends to yield a higher burden on women and girls’ health due to, for example, feeding practices (malnutrition) and use of unsafe cooking fuels (COPD).This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Women and Dementia - Not forgotten ILC-UK

ILC-UK recently (31 Aug 2011)��published a report calling for a gendered approach and response to dementia at the national and international level. The report posits that women will disproportionately bear the burden of dementia in terms of numbers, but also impact in the coming years. The ‘feminization of ageing’ is a widely recognised trend and yet hitherto a comprehensive approach to the impact of dementia on women remains largely under explored.Invariably women and men as they age, share many of the same fundamental needs. Yet, as is acknowledged in many parts of the world, older women are particularly vulnerable and are subject to prolonged inequalities experienced since childhood, for example, lower levels of education and a greater risk of poverty. This report assumes a life course approach to the challenge of dementia and women, arguing from a global perspective that women face a ‘triple jeopardy’ as a result of the associated stigma attached to their age, gender and decline in cognitive functions. ILC-UK make a number of recommendations for improving outcomes and interventions for women, which include: 1. Dementia health policies and programmes should incorporate a gender dimension in their design, delivery and evaluation2. Gender should be included as a key health determinant in the promotion and disease prevention of dementia3. Dementia research at the regional, national and international level needs to be disaggregated by gender and age4. Women and men should be equally represented and involved at the micro and macro level of decision-making with regard to the development of health and social care policies and resource allocation as they pertain to dementia5. There is a need for greater interdisciplinary research incorporating the biological and social models of health for men and women to improve health interventions and outcomesDownload the full pdf report here��

Community Involvement For Women's Health: Mechanisms Within Primary Care Services

Community Involvement For Women’s Health: Mechanisms Within Primary Care Services The Women.s Health Council is a statutory body established in 1997 to advise the Minister for Health and Children on all aspects of women.s health. Following a recommendation in the Report of the Second Commission on the Status of Women (1993), Developing a Policy for Women’s Health. A Discussion Document was published in 1995. One of the recommendations in the Plan was a proposal that a Women’s Health Council be set up as a centre of expertise on women.s health issues, to foster research into women.s health, evaluate the success of this Plan in improving women’s health and advise the Minister for Health on women’s issues generally. Click here to download PDF 644kb  

Women - The Picture of Health Report

This review describes the extent of research on women's health in Ireland and assesses its adequacy as a basis for policy. Distinguishing between data collection and data analysis as components of research, the findings of the review could be summarised thus: there are some areas of womenâ?Ts health on which we do not have any data; in other areas data are collected but the data collection methods need to be gender proofed to ensure they are capable of revealing accurately the situation regarding women Download the Report here

Consumer Focused Review of Men's Food Behaviour

Increasing attention has been paid to the burden of ill-health experienced by men in many Western countries. In Europe and internationally, the Republic of Ireland has been leading the way by developing a national policy for men’s health. In most countries around the world, women now have a longer life expectancy than men. Similarly, on the island of Ireland, in spite of recent increases in men’s life expectancy, men continue to have higher death rates at all ages and from all leading causes of death. In Northern Ireland, in 2010, men’s life expectancy at birth was 77.08 years (81.53 years for women), while in the Republic of Ireland, figures published in 2009 revealed that men’s life expectancy at birth was 76.8 years (compared to 81.6 years for women). Key health issues for men include circulatory diseases, cancers and respiratory diseases. In relation to food and health, obesity has been highlighted as a major concern in relation to men’s health. While physiological difference between men and women explain some of the variation in the rate and/or onset of disease (e.g., protective effects of oestrogen in relation to the onset of cardiovascular diseases), other factors, such as socio-cultural influences, which are the main focus of this report, also play an important role. It is acknowledged that men and women experience different influences and motivations with respect to their knowledge and attitudes of and behaviours towards food and health. The purpose of this report is therefore not to compare men with women or to encourage men to model themselves on women in relation to their food and health behaviour. Rather, the goal is to provide recommendations to improve communications, resources, interventions, education and services targeted at boys and men in relation to food.

Action Cancer

The pharmacist will hold sessions with particpants to raise breast awareness in the Ardoyne and Shankill areas and provide information on health issues they want more detail on. Five essions were carried out by the pharmacist on women's health - mainly breast awareness with 53 women attending in total. The pharmacist gave health related information to the women and discussion followed. Each group attending were unique and each discussion brought up different concerns and interests. Cancer Lifeline a community group attended the session and have since made links with the pharmacist and Action Cancer.

Breastfeeding in the East Midlands: patterns, trends and data quality issues

Breastfeeding has important health benefits for both mother and child. Breastfed babies are less likely to report with gastric, respiratory and urinary tract infections and allergic diseases, while they are also less likely to become obese in later childhood. Improving breastfeeding initiation has become a national priority, and a national target has been set ̢?oto deliver an increase of two percentage points per annum in breastfeeding initiation rate, focusing especially on women from disadvantaged areas̢?. Despite improvements in data quality in previous years, it still remains difficult to construct an accurate and reliable picture of variations and trends in breastfeeding in the East Midlands. It is essential that nationally standardised data collection systems are put in place to enable effective and accurate monitoring and evaluation of breastfeeding status both at a local and national level.