Integrating Socio-Economic Determinants of Canadian Women's Health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Health Issue</p> <p>The association between a number of socio-economic determinants and health has been amply demonstrated in Canada and elsewhere. Over the past decades, women's increased labour force participation and changing family structure, among other changes in the socio-economic environment, have altered social roles considerably and lead one to expect that the pattern of disparities in health among women and men will also have changed. Using data from the CCHS (2000), this chapter investigates the association between selected socio-economic determinants of health and two specific self-reported outcomes among women and men: (a) self-perceived health and (b) self-reports of chronic conditions.</p> <p>Key Findings</p> <p>The descriptive picture demonstrated by this CCHS dataset is that 10% of men aged 65 and over report low income, versus 23% of women within the same age bracket. The results of the logistic regression models calculated for women and men on two outcome variables suggest that the selected socio-economic determinants used in this analysis are important for women and for men in a differential manner. These results while supporting other results illustrate the need to refine social and economic characteristics used in surveys such as the CCHS so that they would become more accurate predictors of health status given that there are personal, cultural and environmental dimensions to take into account.</p> <p>Recommendations</p> <p>Because it was shown that socio economic determinants of health are context sensitive and evolve over time, studies should be designed to examine the complex temporal interactions between a variety of social and biological determinants of health from a life course perspective. Examples are provided in the chapter.</p

Empowerment Beyond Numbers: Substantiating Women’s Political Participation

From our households and into our communities, from independent States to international governing bodies, gender operates as a construct of evolving aspects of women’s identities and is a medium through which expectations are prescribed, social norms are formed and power relations are negotiated. Gender constructs that impede women’s access to the public spheres of society diminish the possibility for equitable and empowering life conditions. Of particular emphasis in this paper, facilitating women’s entry into political bodies across the world is also compromised by persistent obstacles in women’s opportunities in both political and private spheres of life. Our research engages female and male panchayat members in rural Gujarat, India. We aim to understand how being a woman affects access to political office, experiences therein, negotiation procedures and decisions taken. It is theorized that facilitating female representation in local governmental structures (a panchayat) through a quota represents one of many routes toward empowerment and one potential means of improving health and household welfare. When empowerment is analyzed within India’s panchayat quota, dimensions such as gender and corresponding perceptions, norms and conditions evidence the centrality of gender as a persistent fault-line in number-based initiatives. The panchayat thus mirrors gendered social realities, demonstrating how complex the processes of substantial democratic political participation and women’s empowerment are, in India and elsewhere

Integrating Ethnicity and Migration As Determinants of Canadian Women's Health

Health Issue: This chapter investigates (1) the association between ethnicity and migration, as measured by length of residence in Canada, and two specific self-reported outcomes: (a) self-perceived health and (b) self-reports of chronic conditions; and (2) the extent to which these selected determinants provide an adequate portrait of the differential outcomes on Canadian women's self-perceived health and self-reports of chronic conditions. The 2000 Canadian Community Health Survey was used to assess these associations while controlling for selected determinants such as age, sex, family structure, highest level of education attained and household income. Key Findings: • Recent immigrant women (2 years or less in Canada) are more likely to report poor health than Canadian-born women (OR = 0.48 CI: 0.30–0.77). Immigrant women who have been in Canada 10 years and over are more likely to report poor health than Canadian-born women (OR = 1.31 CI: 1.18–1.45). • Although immigrant women are less likely to report chronic conditions than Canadian-born women, this health advantage decreased over time in Canada (OR from 0.35 to 0.87 for 0–2 years to 10 years and above compared with Canadian born women). Data Gaps and Recommendations: • Migration experience needs to be conceptualized according to the results of past studies and included as a social determinant of health above and beyond ethnicity and culture. It is expected that the upcoming longitudinal survey of immigrants will help enhance surveillance capacity in this area. • Variables need to be constructed to allow women and men to best identify themselves appropriately according to ethnic identity and number of years in the host country; some of the proposed categories used as a cultural group may simply refer to skin colour without capturing associated elements of culture, ethnicity and life experiences.Medicine, Faculty ofReviewedFacult

Integrating Ethnicity and Migration As Determinants of Canadian Women's Health-2

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Integrating Ethnicity and Migration As Determinants of Canadian Women's Health"</p><p>BMC Women's Health 2004;4(Suppl 1):S32-S32.</p><p>Published online 25 Aug 2004</p><p>PMCID:PMC2096680.</p><p></p

Integrating Ethnicity and Migration As Determinants of Canadian Women's Health-1

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Integrating Ethnicity and Migration As Determinants of Canadian Women's Health"</p><p>BMC Women's Health 2004;4(Suppl 1):S32-S32.</p><p>Published online 25 Aug 2004</p><p>PMCID:PMC2096680.</p><p></p