Kia ora, and welcome to an explainer video by Women's Health Action Trust. In this video
we will be exploring how the social determinants of health affect women. There's a saying in
the medical field that "women get sicker, but men die quicker". And it's true. Women
are more likely to feel sick, take days off work, be on higher quantities of medication,
and visit doctors more often. But why is it that women spend more of their lives ill?
As we know there are biological differences between males and females, but do these alone
explain disparities in illness? Research suggests they do not. gender, and where you identify
along its spectrum can have a massive influence on health This is why gender is such an important
aspect of the social determinants of health model. So, why does being a women make you
more likely to be ill? There are a multitude of reasons and we will explore some in this
video. Bias in health care. When women are sick they are less likely to be believed by
medical professionals. This means they spend more time ill. An example of this is endometriosis.
This is a painful uterine disease which affects up to 1 in 10 kiwi women. But, little is known
about the illness and the average time to get a diagnosis is a startling 8 years. Additionally,
bias in medical research has meant the male body is treated as the norm and therefore
more of research and knowledge we have about health is less relevant to females. There's
strong evidence that certain drugs and diseases work differently in female bodies, yet due
to male bias a lot of this is let unknown. An example of this is asprin, which is a commonly
prescribed drugs to reduce the risk of heart attacks. This is found to be a helpful medication
in males, but recently when further testing was conducted in a female population researchers
found that the drug was not only not helpful for reducing heart attacks, it was actually
more often harmful for women. Social positions also play a role and women's positions often
lead to stress and fatigue. In modern society many women will employed and then are also
expected to run the household. Including housework, childcare and looking after elderly parents.
This is often referred to as working the "double shift". 75% of this unpaid labour is undertaken
by women globally, and working the double shift leads to mental and physical exhaustion.
This stressful family life is correlated with illness. In fact, married women with children
live shorter lives than their unmarried, childless counterparts. Economic inequality is hugely
influential. Even though women hold more university qualifications than men they are underrepresented
in the workforce - particularly in the high positions their qualifications should have
afforded them. Women can expect to be paid less for their work, and more likely to be
in precarious working situations, and have higher rates of part-time and short-term contracts.
Socio-economic status is a key predictor of health, and women are economically disadvantaged
in our society. These influences on heath do not operate alone. Instead, they intersect.
A person is not simply a woman, they are also their ethnicity, their social class, their
age, their sexuality, and so on. Because all these factors intersect with one another they
can compound. The less privilege someone holds the more likely they are to be ill. This causes
disparities in health even among women. For example, women of colour face higher rates
of illness than white women. This is because white women hold more social privilege. A
clear example of this in New Zealand is life expectancy. Due to colonisation and discrimination
Maori women often live shorter lives than their non-Maori counterparts. There are many
social determinants that influence women's health and it is important to keep these in
mind. This is because health is often a result of social factors, such as the ones explored
in this video, rather than individual choices. At Women's Health Action we maintain this
lens throughout our work. To find out more about the social determinants of women's health
visit www.womens-health.org.nz to find our more about the work we do in this space.