Advocating for a More Equitable Health Care System
Written by: Helen Lai, PhD, Associate Scientific Director
A patient’s gender can still affect their health care experience today. For example, women face barriers to awareness of, openness to, and access to treatment when it comes to female-specific diseases. A 2021 study published in the journal PLOS ONE1 identified 4 barriers for cervical cancer screening among female university students:
- 1. Socio-cultural barrier: conservative social perception of unmarried women’s sexual life
- 2. Knowledge barrier: lack of knowledge and information
- 3. Psychological barrier: discomfort
- 4. Practical barrier: time consuming
There are other equity challenges in our health care system beyond gender—specific diseases. On one hand, implicit bias favoring male patients in both medical research and practice, such as clinical studies that do not include female participants proportional to real-world patient populations, can result in delayed diagnosis and treatment in female patients. On the other hand, when gender differences in disease presentation and response to treatment are not explicitly considered, misdiagnosis and mistreatment could occur.2
Fortunately, we now see several positive trends that signify progress as we approach a more gender-equitable health care system:
- 1. International organizations are advocating for women’s health; for example, the Generation Equality Forum by UN Women held in 2021 launched a 5-year action journey to achieve progress toward gender equality3
- 2. The proportion of women in medical education is increasing in the United States, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, and women now outnumber men in medical schools4
- 3. In the United States, women make up 76% of all health care jobs and are holding increasingly diverse roles that were traditionally dominated by men5, increasing gender-equity presence in various aspects of the patient experience
- 4. Regulatory bodies, such as US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), set policies to include women and racial and ethnic minorities in pharmaceutical research6
At Razorfish Health, we are proud to have the opportunity to represent, elevate, and speak up for and directly to historically underrepresented populations. We are actively working toward a more equitable health care system for everyone through who we are and the work we do. As of 2021, we are a woman-led company, and our commitment to diverse talent means that we integrate ideas and considerations from different perspectives, including gender. We actively consider gender equity across all types of projects and disease states, empowering patients and health care professionals to maximize health care outcomes by minimizing the impact of gender-based biases. In addition, we leverage the latest research to understand the challenges and strategies so that we can advise and assist our clients in co-creating a health care future that is inclusive for all patients regardless of their gender. We are motivated to be part of the force for good that advocates for a more equitable health care system. As we honor Women’s History Month in March, we celebrate our progress in taking care of women and look forward to further bettering women’s health in the future.
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At Razorfish Health, we know what it takes to navigate the modern health care landscape. If you want to fuel your knowledge, please reach out to Delia.Pavlichko@razorfishhealth.com. We’re interested in hearing your perspective as well as your thoughts on upcoming communication challenges and opportunities.
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