Undervalued
“Undervalued, Undertreated, Under-Studied… Are We Understood?”
The Undervaluing of Women’s Healthcare
The undervaluing of women’s healthcare refers to a systemic lack of financial, physical and emotional investment in women’s health issues. Women are under-represented in clinical trials, research into women’s issues is underfunded, many women’s health concerns unrelated to childbirth (like menopause or endometriosis) are under-taught, under-studied and, thus, poorly treated. Women’s specialists and procedures are underpaid, and women’s pain systematically goes unbelieved or ignored.
Tiny Pot
Karli Fairbanks
Investment in women’s healthcare suffer from a “bikini-only” approach, wherein the focus is typically on breast cancer and conditions of the reproductive organs to the exclusion of everything else—as if women had no other body parts. In reality, only 5% of women’s health burden stems from maternal and gynecological issues; the rest is related to conditions both men and women experience, like heart disease.
Women also endure half their health burden in their working years—ages 15 to 50—thus impacting their abilities to earn money and support their families. There are also the years women are caregiving for children and elders alike.
Women are more than the total of their sex parts. They are whole bodies and whole people, bringing value and service to their families and communities. Why aren’t they valued or served in return?
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Women's pain goes unbelieved
Leading to delays in diagnosis, inadequate pain management, worsening symptoms, and deteriorating quality of life.
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Women with symptoms of disease...
…Are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with mental illness instead.
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Women in the ER reporting acute pain...
…Are less likely to be given opioid painkillers than men. And after they’re prescribed, women wait longer to receive them.
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Women's procedures are undervalued
Leading to decreased interactions between women and providers, which especially causes poorer pregnancy outcomes and higher maternal mortality.
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Vulvar biopsies are reimbursed...
…At the lowest rates of all special site biopsies, including half the rate of penile biopsies.
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In most states, Medicaid reimbursement for full obstetrics...
…Prenatal visits, delivery, and follow-up care—is less than the actual cost of prenatal care alone.
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Women's health issues are under-treated
Leading women to give up on the medical system and suffer needlessly, thus reducing quality of life.
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Women are 7x more likely than men...
…To be misdiagnosed and discharged in the middle of having a heart attack.
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Due to the normalization and dismissal of pelvic pain...
…6 in 10 women with endometriosis are never diagnosed.
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Women's health issues are under-taught
Leading to beliefs that conditions like menopause and pelvic pain should be tolerated rather than treated.
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Only 1 in 5 OB/GYN residents...
…Receives any menopause training, a condition that impacts nearly all women.
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There are 27 fellowships focusing on men's sexual health...
…and one for women, in urology training.
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Research into women's health is underfunded
Leading to a one-size-fits-all medical approach that doesn’t recognize gender-specific symptoms or provide access to appropriate treatment.
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There is 5x more research into erectile dysfunction...
…Affecting 19% of men, than into premenstrual syndrome, affecting 90% of women.
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Women have 33% more doctor visits than men...
…And only 4% of medical research goes into female health conditions.
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Women are underrepresented in clinical trials
Leading to women experiencing adverse affects from medication 2x more than men, or not receiving any medication at all.
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Male animals outnumber female animals...
…5 to 1 in pharmacological studies and nearly 4 to 1 in physiological studies.
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Clinical trials weren't required to include women...
…Prior to 1933. Today, female inclusion is just 41%.
Women Are
51% of the population
47% of the workforce
75% of unpaid caregivers
the Glue
holding families and economies together
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Your Body Is a Battleground
Legal barriers to reproductive healthcare over time.
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Women Weaving Community
Historical contributions of women to our community.
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Maternal Mortality in the US
A look at maternal mortality rates and contributing factors.
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Shame, Stigma, Silence
The moral and social dimensions of gynecology.
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Undervalued, Under-treated, Under-Studied
How we systemically undervalue women's healthcare.
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(CO)Operation
How different care options play out in one's life.
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Map of Gynecologia
The previously uncharted wilderness of Women’s healthcare.
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The Future
What do you want to see for the future in the state of Idaho?
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BGH Birth Stories
Personal accounts and birth stories at Bonner General Hospital.
REFERENCES
1 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/magazine/menopause-hot-flashes-hormone-therapy.html
2 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/magazine/menopause-hot-flashes-hormone-therapy.html
3 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/13/the-female-problem-male-bias-in-medical-trials
4 https://www.glamour.com/story/its-time-to-stop-ignoring-menopausal-women
5 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01099-6/fulltext
6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKCpmz6Eccg&t=1s
7 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskWomen/comments/elw6vb/what_woulddo_you_wish_you_were_told_about/
8 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskWomen/comments/elw6vb/what_woulddo_you_wish_you_were_told_about/
9 https://www.themenopausecharity.org/2023/06/09/nickis-story/
10 https://www.themenopausecharity.org/2021/06/12/my-premature-menopause-aged-14/
11 https://healthlaw.org/reproductive-health-care-pain-points-raising-the-standard-of-care-for-managing-pain-from-iud-insertion-and-removal/
12 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03287-0
13 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr062.pdf
14 ClinicalTrials.gov
15 https://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/contraception-access-care-disparities-bias
16 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03287-0
17 https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31397/w31397.pdf
18 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-women-and-men-need-better-birth-control/
19 https://around.uoregon.edu/content/professors-book-examines-bias-dissatisfaction-birth-control
20 https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/03/500549503/male-birth-control-study-killed-after-men-complain-about-side-effects
21 https://www.byrdie.com/birth-control-stories
22 https://nwlc.org/in-control-our-stories-our-lives-our-birth-control/
23 https://nwlc.org/in-control-our-stories-our-lives-our-birth-control/
24 https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/iud-design-history-contraception
25 https://onezero.medium.com/femtech-could-be-the-solution-to-medicines-male-bias-37aab5ffd1ed
26 https://onezero.medium.com/femtech-could-be-the-solution-to-medicines-male-bias-37aab5ffd1ed
27 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/health/pelvic-medical-exam-unconscious.html
28 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9622698/
29 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-is-womens-sexual-health-so-understudied
30 https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/dec/18/women-have-been-woefully-neglected-does-medical-science-have-a-gender-problem
31 https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-023-01475-2/index.html
32 https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/why-no-one-can-design-a-better-speculum/382534/
33 https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/why-no-one-can-design-a-better-speculum/382534/
34 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-is-womens-sexual-health-so-understudied
35 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/17/health/clitoris-sex-doctors-surgery.html
36 https://witanddelight.com/2021/07/the-powerful-act-of-sharing-our-stories-about-womens-health/