While
there are continuing attempts to breech the divides there remains a significant
schism between the sciences, including medicine, and the humanities; history,
politics, philosophy and literature. Students of gender, however, are most
often called upon to work across the disciplines because life is like that. The
human condition is complex and even the best, holistic view on any particular
subject, will grapple with this multiplicity.
The
history of medicine is a fascinating subject in itself, and a body of
literature that takes a gender perspective is pertinent. In 2014 the Australian
Women’s Health Network hosted a forum,
and launched a guide: Making it better:
gender transformative health promotion. The presenters Nancy Poole and
Lorraine Greaves, from the British Colombia Centre of Excellence for Women’s
Health, drew attention to an emphasis in the Ottowa Charter from the World
Health Organisation on the social determinants of health. These are the
economic and social conditions, such as access to housing, education and
employment, rather than individual risk factors for positive health outcomes. These
social and economic factors can be broken down by gender, race/ethnicity and
class, and after extensive analysis of health promotion strategies Poole and
Greaves found most programs to be gender blind. They have put together a
framework for constructing a gender transformative approach to health promotion
which is accessible through the above mentioned guide. You can see the forum
online.* Furthermore, they launched an online course – Gender equality through health promotion.+
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