Towards the genderless society: equitable for female wellbeing and male health?

Despite the gender system that disadvantages women, in most countries women live longer than men. Women typically have higher morbidity, but this does not cancel out their advantage over a lifetime period, so that women still have a higher level of expected lifetime health than men. At the same time, the gender gap in lifetime health is narrowing. There is evidence to suggest that gender equality may help improve men’s health more than women’s health. The paper discusses the implications of moves towards a genderless, equitable world for women’s wellbeing, and for current notions of high status masculinity

Dangerous dads? Ecological and longitudinal analyses of paternity leave and risk for child injury

BACKGROUND: In 1974, Sweden became the first country to permit fathers to take paid parental leave. Other countries are currently following suit issuing similar laws. While this reform supports the principles of the United Nations convention of the right for children to be with both parents and enshrines the ethos of gender equality, there has been little systematic examination of its potential impact on child health. Instead, there is uninformed debate that fathers may expose their children to greater risks of injury than mothers. In this Swedish national study, the authors therefore assess whether fathers' parental leave can be regarded as a more serious risk factor for child injuries than that of mothers. METHODS: Nationwide register-based ecological and longitudinal studies of hospitalisation due to injury (and intoxication) in early childhood, involving the Swedish population in 1973-2009 (ecological design), and children born in 1988 and 1989 (n=118 278) (longitudinal design). RESULTS: An increase in fathers' share of parental leave over time was parallelled by a downward trend in child injury rates (age 0-4 years). At the individual level, the crude incidence of child injury (age 0-2 years) was lower during paternity as compared with maternity leave. This association was, however, explained by parental socio-demographic characteristics (multivariate HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.2). CONCLUSION: There is no support for the notion that paternity leave increases the risk of child injury.The Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research and the Swedish Research Council.http://jech.bmj.com/hb2013ay201

Gender Differences in Public and Private Drinking Contexts: A Multi-Level GENACIS Analysis

This multi-national study hypothesized that higher levels of country-level gender equality would predict smaller differences in the frequency of women’s compared to men’s drinking in public (like bars and restaurants) settings and possibly private (home or party) settings. GENACIS project survey data with drinking contexts included 22 countries in Europe (8); the Americas (7); Asia (3); Australasia (2), and Africa (2), analyzed using hierarchical linear models (individuals nested within country). Age, gender and marital status were individual predictors; country-level gender equality as well as equality in economic participation, education, and political participation, and reproductive autonomy and context of violence against women measures were country-level variables. In separate models, more reproductive autonomy, economic participation, and educational attainment and less violence against women predicted smaller differences in drinking in public settings. Once controlling for country-level economic status, only equality in economic participation predicted the size of the gender difference. Most country-level variables did not explain the gender difference in frequency of drinking in private settings. Where gender equality predicted this difference, the direction of the findings was opposite from the direction in public settings, with more equality predicting a larger gender difference, although this relationship was no longer significant after controlling for country-level economic status. Findings suggest that country-level gender equality may influence gender differences in drinking. However, the effects of gender equality on drinking may depend on the specific alcohol measure, in this case drinking context, as well as on the aspect of gender equality considered. Similar studies that use only global measures of gender equality may miss key relationships. We consider potential implications for alcohol related consequences, policy and public health

Cost-Effectiveness of Peer-Delivered Interventions for Cocaine and Alcohol Abuse among Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

<div><h3>Aims</h3><p>To determine whether the additional interventions to standard care are cost-effective in addressing cocaine and alcohol abuse at 4 months (4 M) and 12 months (12 M) from baseline.</p> <h3>Method</h3><p>We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of a randomized controlled trial with three arms: (1) NIDA's Standard intervention (SI); (2) SI plus a Well Woman Exam (WWE); and, (3) SI, WWE, plus four Educational Sessions (4ES).</p> <h3>Results</h3><p>To obtain an additional cocaine abstainer, WWE compared to SI cost $7,223 at 4 M and$3,611 at 12 M. Per additional alcohol abstainer, WWE compared to SI cost $3,611 and$7,223 at 4 M and 12 M, respectively. At 12 M, 4ES was dominated (more costly and less effective) by WWE for abstinence outcomes.</p> <h3>Conclusions</h3><p>To our knowledge, this is the first cost-effectiveness analysis simultaneously examining cocaine and alcohol abuse in women. Depending on primary outcomes sought and priorities of policy makers, peer-delivered interventions can be a cost-effective way to address the needs of this growing, underserved population.</p> <h3>Trial Registration</h3><p>ClinicalTrials.gov <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01235091">NCT01235091</a></p> </div

Doing masculinity, not doing health? a qualitative study among dutch male employees about health beliefs and workplace physical activity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Being female is a strong predictor of health promoting behaviours. Workplaces show great potential for lifestyle interventions, but such interventions do not necessarily take the gendered background of lifestyle behaviours into account. A perspective analyzing how masculine gender norms affect health promoting behaviours is important. This study aims to explore men's health beliefs and attitudes towards health promotion; in particular, it explores workplace physical activity in relation to masculine ideals among male employees.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the Fall of 2008, we interviewed 13 white Dutch male employees aged 23-56 years. The men worked in a wide range of professions and occupational sectors and all interviewees had been offered a workplace physical activity program. Interviews lasted approximately one to one-and-a-half hour and addressed beliefs about health and lifestyle behaviours including workplace physical activity, as well as normative beliefs about masculinity. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two normative themes were found: first, the ideal man is equated with being a winner and real men are prepared to compete, and second, real men are not whiners and ideally, not vulnerable. Workplace physical activity is associated with a particular type of masculinity - young, occupied with looks, and interested in muscle building. Masculine norms are related to challenging health while taking care of health is feminine and, hence, something to avoid. Workplace physical activity is not framed as a health measure, and not mentioned as of importance to the work role.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Competitiveness and nonchalant attitudes towards health shape masculine ideals. In regards to workplace physical activity, some men resist what they perceive to be an emphasis on muscled looks, whereas for others it contributes to looking self-confident. In order to establish a greater reach among vulnerable employees such as ageing men, worksite health promotion programs including workplace physical activity may benefit from greater insight in the tensions between health behaviours and masculinity.</p

Health, economics, and feminism : on judging fairness and reform

Introduction: The point of departure in this thesis is that women live longer than men, while men have more power, influence and resources, and probably better health-related quality of life, than women. In order to judge and act from this situation, the classical idea that both facts and values are needed for conclusion is adopted. The diverse positions of the sexes are mainly assumed to depend on the gender system, i.e. the societal structure organising human activities and relations, ultimately privileges and burdens, by sex. Hence, abolition of gender is held to be associated with decreased differences in health. The handling of facts and values is divided into two principal questions: 1) how to compare women and men within a particular state of the world, and 2) how to choose from their positions between states. Aims: The overall aim is to propose a public health framework for judging fairness and change from the positions of women and men. The specific aims are to: illustrate how the choice of normative approach affects judgements on fairness and resource allocation (I), explor public health views regarding various ethical principles (II), study the relationship between aspects of gender equality in public/domestic and health (III), estimate costs, savings and health gains, associated with the Swedish parental insurance reform (IV). Methods: The methods used are: ethical analysis based on the normative theories of welfarism, extrawelfarism, egalitarianism, and feminism; and the notions of justice by separate spheres, equity as choice and attainment/shortfall principles (I), survey among public health workers regarding within-state and between-states ethical views (II), epidemiologic study on death and sickness leave among traditional, equal, and untraditional Swedish couples who had their first child in 1978 (III), cost-effectiveness analysis based on men who took paternity leave 1978-1979 (IV). Results: The selected normative theories are likely to claim different opinions on fairness regarding women and men, and different proposals on resource allocations (I). Most public health workers support the idea of judging fairness by separate spheres, end-points, and shortfall equity. The rejection of health maximisation, and support for equality in life span and income, are convincing; although females and males differ significantly in judging societal change (II). In comparison to being equal in the public sphere, traditional women have lower risks of death and sickness, while traditional men tend to have higher risks. Being equal in the domestic sphere seems to be associated with lower risks among both sexes (III). Men who took paternity leave run significant lower death risks than other men. Base case cost-effectiveness of the reform is 6,000 EUR, and worst case 40,000 EUR, per gained QALY (IV). Conclusions: A public health framework for judging fairness and reform by women and men could look as follows: 1) identify facts at present and from past, 2) ask whether the situation is fair by within-state rules, 3) claim or refuse change, 4) identify consequences from reform, 5) consider whether the change was satisfying by between-states rules. The gains from more ethical analyses of public health based on sex/gender should overcome the many tricky issues involved. Since there is no common understanding on how to judge fairness and change from female/male differences in health and wealth, added research and exchange of views are called for. At Swedish state of gender (in)equality, it seems public health relevant to support further similarity in child-care. Provided an effective fraction of 25 percent, the entitlement to paternity leave is probably approved of by common welfarist, egalitarian, and feminist goals

Monolithic Living

The project discuss mass and monomateriality through residential case studies of modular masonry.