To respond to that
question, a recent national report
"Making The Grade on Women's Health: A National and State by State
Report Card" * would lead us to believe they are not.
In order to meet the health
care needs of women, there needs to be a comprehensive understanding
of several interrelated issues:
- financial access to healthcare services
- the understanding by providers and employers of the different
needs of men and women
- an understanding of the quality and outcomes of health services
provided to women
Some of the obstacles
that preclude good healthcare for women are:
- lack of health insurance
- women's caregiving responsibilities
- lack of flexible work schedules
- limited transportation
- lack of sufficient programs to educate women on health issues
- lack of enough research on women's health issues.
Many women lack health
insurance from employers and, because of their low wages, can
not afford to purchase insurance. The best way to protect all
women would be for us to have a Universal Health System covering
all citizens.
Without respite assistance
caregivers may not be able to leave the person they are caring
for during the limited office hours some physicians now keep Only
a good system of respite care will solve the problem of women
caregivers finding time to care for their own health. Improving
access for routine appointments with flexible office hours would
be helpful for both working women and caregivers. Although more
employers now understand the need for flexible work schedules,
many do not understand this need and how it affects the healthcare
of women.
Medical offices convenient
to transportation are imperative for the elder woman or any woman
who does not drive. Lastly, more programs to educate women on
health problems and preventive care are needed. The following
is one example of inadequacy in education on women's health: While
twenty percent of women nationally are affected by osteoporosis
only 26 states have state funded education programs to address
this. Teaching women to control chronic conditions such as
high blood pressure can help reduce the risk of heart disease
and stroke. Understanding the need to consider having a mammogram
can save one's life.
Historically, not enough
medical research has been done on women. We now know that there
are many health conditions that are different for women and men.
One example is heart disease, a condition which is harder to diagnose
in women. Although the National Institutes of Health published
guidelines for research on women's health in 1994**, much of the
health research still being done does not focus specifically on
women. Women should be equally represented in clinical trials
for new health care products. Then we need to reach out to alert
women to their unique health care risks.
There was one longitudinal
study of aging which began in 1958 (Baltimore Longitudinal Study
on Aging*** ) which demonstrates the significance research can
have on women's health. The findings, according to the National
Institute on Aging, suggest ways to delay, reduce, or even reverse
increasing vulnerability to disease and frailty with age. This
study was the first to report that estrogen replacement therapy
may protect against Alzheimer's disease and memory decline associated
with cognitive aging. There is also evidence that estrogen replacement
therapy has a beneficial effect on learning in postmenopausal
women. In the area of disease, it was found that women over the
age of 55 may have no immunity to tetanus which may mean that
immunization guidelines need to be revised. More research of this
kind needs to be done.
We know that women
are not receiving good health care when only 25 percent of women
over the age of 50 are screened for colon cancer and only nine
percent of women 65 and older, under Medicare, had a bone density
test in the last two years to detect osteoporosis. Also,
many insurers do not cover a baseline bone density test for women
under 65 even though we now know that such a baseline test is
prudent in order to be able to measure bone loss as we age.
As women's longevity
increases, it is imperative to also increase the quality of life.
Now that the national election is over we should work to hold
our politicians accountable to creating programs and policies
that will improve women's health care. Some issues to be addressed
are: Universal Health Coverage, preventive health screenings,
mental health parity which would provide coverage of mental disorders
on the same basis as physical disorders, Medicare coverage for
prescription drugs, education to promote good health, more research
on women's diseases and respite care for caregivers. Only when
we address all of these issues will women get the health care
they need.
*(Making the Grade
on Women's Health was developed jointly by the National Women's
Law Center, FOCUS on Health & Leadership for Women at the Center
for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistiics at the University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Lewin Group, August
2000)
Sites referenced in
the Article:
The
Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging
In-Depth
Analysis of Federal and State Health Care Policies & Status of
Women's Health Reveals Massive Gaps in Research & Policy
National
Institute on Aging
