The Gender Breakdown on Research & Health

During these last days of summer, we here at Disruptive Women are reflecting on posts from when we first launched—it’s fascinating to see how far we’ve come and where we still have to go—to push—to Disrupt. After all, a woman’s work is never done. We originally published this post on November 16, 2015. When it comes to health and wellness, more than half of Americans, men and women alike, say that their family’s health has been improved by medical research, (55% men; 51% women).  Gender differences arise when respondents are asked if disease has affected them personally, or those they love. Remarkably, 40% of men, as opposed to only 25% of women, say neither they nor any one in their extended families or among their close friends suffer from any of a long list of diseases and disabilities. Even controlling for age of respondents, underlying lack of personal experience helps explain other findings in a recent public opinion poll of the U.S. adult population commissioned by Research!America, a nonprofit advocacy and public education alliance dedicated to making research to improve health a higher national priority. Female respondents, significantly more than male respondents, say health issues and health care costs are highest among the concerns facing this country.  Women express less confidence in our system for reviewing the safety and effectiveness of new medicines and devices (59% men; 46% women). Maybe women are just paying more attention.  It seems like...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: gender Source Type: blogs