According to Annandale and Hunt (2000), since the early 1970s, the inequalities in gender have been a very important focus to sociological research. Generally, researchers have shown that the difference in gender usually influences people’s experience of health and illness. According to Armstrong (1980), women live about average of five years longer than men but women also suffer more illnesses compared to men throughout their lifetime. The reasons for these differences have been narrowed down to two possible explanations. First of all, difference in the biological constitutions of the different sexes which means that the two different genders experiences different type of illnesses and secondly, sometimes there are gender related actions and approaches to the concept of health and illness that differs amongst gender (Annandale, 2003).
In this essay, key terms such as gender, health and illness will be discussed using essay. Also, this essay will be examined in three dimensions. Firstly, the gender differences that influence people’s health and experience of illnesses will be discussed. Secondly, using evidences, gender health inequalities will also be outlined. Thirdly, the importance and relevance of a nurse being aware of these gender inequalities and differences will also be examined.
The sociological definition of gender is the cultural ideas and the distinct social expectation from male and female. This is different from sex which focuses on differences based on the biological composition of the body for example reproductive function and certain characteristics for instance breast development (Johnson, 2000). According to The World Health Organisation (WHO) (2012), gender is defined as behaviours and activities that the society considers as appropriate for male and female: this is a social construction. Berger and Luckmann described social construction as the interaction between the society’s perspectives and individuals opinions. In other words, social construction is the collective acceptance of the society concerning particular issues. The subject of gender differences influencing people’s experience of health and illness is a matter of question. As it may be, member of different gender could have different experience of health and illness and so could member of the same gender. This is because peoples experience of health and illness is not only reliant one the factor of gender but other factors too such as culture, religious beliefs, ethnicity and social network (Bendelow, 1993). Focusing on the influence of gender difference on the experience of health and Illness, there is a potential that the interpretation of good health and ill health might differ amongst gender. The World Health Organisation (WHO) (2012) defined health as “a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being and not mere absence of disease or infimities ” that is to say; the absences or incomplete state of any of the physical, social and mental well-being is considered as illness. The controversy with this definition of health is that regardless of the gender difference, different people have different perspective and interpretation of what physical, social and mental well-being is. To put this in another way, the understanding of health could differ amongst gender.
There are two genders that are culturally and socially constructed and they are the masculine and feminine (Abercrombie et al, 1984). Typical gender differences in men and women are due to social behaviour. Men are more likely to be in occupational positions that increase the risk of them being in danger, for example when working on a building construction site, inhalation of dust and smoke can be very injurious to health. Even though it is not unusual to see women in these occupations, such risky occupations are more populated with men. Furthermore, men are more likely to conform to the hegemonic masculinity expectations such as being more aggressive and competitive. They are therefore more inclined to participate in activities like alcohol consumption and bad diet. This makes them more prone and susceptible to ill health (Armstrong, 1980). Traditionally, the expectations of women are to be family centred. In addition, women are expected to be very caring and take up a load of the domestic responsibilities (Abercrombie et al, 1984). Even when a woman enters a paid employment, it is usually based around the caring role like the Nursing or Teaching profession (Abercrombie et al, 1984). Although this is changing, it is still majorly true. All in all, due to these social differences, men are more likely to be daring and very tolerant of ill health because of their attitude and nature but women on the other hand are less likely to be tolerant of ill health and more likely to go to hospital and complain about ill health. According to Letherby (2009), “women are considered naturally weak…” (p. 100). Also, the chances of men admitting to ill health are less compared to women and so it is less likely for men to seek medical help when required (Curtis, 2004).
Women have more relationship with healthcare service over the course of their lifetime. This is mainly because of natural concerns that are usually experienced by women such as pregnancy and giving birth, post natal care and menopause (Letherby, 2009). This means that women mostly make use of the health service compared to men (Letherby, 2009) as they are more use to complaining about any feeling of ill health and so are more comfortable.
On the contrary, social problems like alcoholism that was initially seen to be more common amongst men appear to have become increasingly common amongst women too as some areas in Britain have the same rate of female admission to programs for alcoholism as male’s admission (Turner, 2004). The traditional female characteristics are being deviated from and female are now adapting more masculine attitude and behaviour (Turner, 2004). This is evident in the increase rate of smoking among women.
Now focusing on the evidence to support gender inequalities, based on the Office for National Statistics (2012), the life expectancy of female in the United Kingdom is 82.1 years while the life expectancy for a male is 78.1 years. According to Field (1997), chronic illness and disabilities are more common amongst old women. This could be due to the fact that women tend to live up to a very old age. Consequently, women generally suffer more from diseases associated with old age. Also according to statistics, men do not live as long as women and so are less likely to experience such illnesses. Similarly, older women have more chances of suffering from conditions that requires them to seek help and assistance from other people in the community (Arber, 1998).
Generally, men and women seem to suffer from different types of illnesses. More men appear to suffer from life threatening diseases that bring about death like coronary diseases while women tend to suffer more from diseases that are less life threatening (Armstrong, 1980). This is supported by Bird and Rieker (2008) who stated that in comparison to men, women have more non-fatal acute illnesses like arthritis. Also, women also suffer more from chronic conditions like cancers compared to men (Bird and Rieker, 2008). According to the Office for National Statistics, between 2008 and 2010, about 11,757 women died each year from breast cancer in the United Kingdom while about 10,427 men died of prostate cancer within the same period.
Statistics has also outlined the difference in suicide figures between men and women. In reference to the Office for National Statistics (2012), in the year 2010, there were 5,608 suicides of which 4,231 were men while 1,377 were women. The argument behind this huge difference in figure according to Rich et al (1988) is that men commit suicide using methods that are more violent, immediate and lethal for example by shooting themselves. Women on the other hand usually commit suicide through substance abuse which can be more easily reversed before serious damages are caused (Kramer, 1972).
According to Glaser and Grundy (1997), married men tend to experience better health and have a longer life expectancy than single, divorced and separated men while married women in contrary generally have a shorter life expectancy and also suffer poorer health than unmarried women. A woman is more likely to engage in her day job and then come back to her home to tend for her family. As Acheson (1926) states; it is more common for a woman to engage in family and home keeping responsibilities like shopping, cooking and caring for other members of the family. Acheson (1926) also pointed out that forty per cent of women who live with someone spend more than 50 hours a week caring for the people they live with. It can be argued therefore that extra strain is put on women at work as well as at home. Women in employment generally have worse health than men because of the concept of double shift. Even though, the most common cause of death for men at working age is heart disease, the most common cause of death in the western nations for women during working age is breast cancer which is an illness that does not particularly have a social gradient (Bartley, 2004).
According to Cameron and Bernardes (1998), men are less likely to discuss issues about their ill health or problems with people. Cameron and Bernardes (1998) also made mention that men who choose to share their health problems with people are aware and conscious of the fact that they are deviating from what the normal male would do. In other words, the conventional male model would not usually share health problem with people sometimes not even with their general practitioner regardless how serious it may be especially when it is seen as embarrassing for example prostrate problems. Even when men end up seeking help, they tend to delay it (Cameron and Bernardes, 1998). In support of the previous statement, Walden (1983) mentioned that women over report illnesses at a higher rate in comparison to man and according to a US analysis study of men and women aged 53; Marks (1996) also stated that women have better self-assessment of illness than men. Therefore it is possible to assume that women tend to suffer more illness because they are more likely to access themselves as been ill compared to men. The reason why women suffer ill health in later life could possibly be due to the disadvantaged socio-economic position that women have in the society. According to Davies and Joshi (1998), Women are more likely to be poorer than men while the families headed by a woman are even more likely to be in poverty. This is to say poverty is not only more dominant among older women but poverty in general is also more common in women than men (Arber and Ginn, 1991).
The fundamental purpose of nursing practice is to provide optimal care for patients and the best way to do this as a nurse is to provide holistic care for the patients. Holism is described by Weller (2005) as viewing an individual as functioning as a whole instead of viewing them as being made up of different systems. In order for holistic care to be provided by a nurse, the patient is to be recognised in terms of any influences that could have an effect on the individuals’ health. This could be an internal influence like an actual ailment of the body. External factors such as gender and social class should also be taken into consideration. That is to say as a nurse, when a patent is being cared for, all aspects of their lives that could possibly affect their wellbeing should be taken into consideration so as to provide the best possible care to the patient.
According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Professional conduct (2008), it is expected of a nurse to treat people as individuals regardless of their gender. Also stated by the Royal College of Nursing (2011), it is expected from the NMC that a nurse provides a holistic, person centred systematic assessment in corporation with the person being cared for and their circle of influence. This means that as a nurse focus should be on the healing of the patients’ body, mind and spirit rather than concentrating on the illness alone (Johnson, 1990). The NMC code also states that a nurse should not be discriminatory against anyone in care. That is to say, it is important for a nurse to be aware of the inequalities that exists amongst gender so that the awareness is created in order to make every conscious effort not to treat patients in a stereotypical or discriminatory manner.
Also, as a female nurse, I should be mindful of how I approach my male patients, I should be careful so I do not treat them in a way that might seems derogatory or make them feel uncomfortable. I should not be ignorant of the fact that men are much more sensitive about embarrassing illnesses especially to do with their nether regions than women, as women are used to going to the doctors and other health professions over the course of their lifetime. As stated by the NMC code of conduct (2008), I must listen to the preference and concern of people in my care. More importantly as a nurse, I should endeavour to provide rounded care to every patient who I come across.
In conclusion to this essay, it has been outlined in depth that gender differences can have a great influence on people’s interpretation and experiences of health and illnesses. Although this is true, it is has also been concisely mentioned that gender is not the only determinant factor that impacts individuals experience of health and illness as there are other factors such as social class and age. Evidences has been use to support the possibility that there is a considerable number of health inequalities that are present among gender. This includes men being more likely to commit suicide compared to women and also women more likely to suffer from poverty stricken illnesses and disabilities compared to men. Most importantly, the significance and relevance that being aware of these inequalities have has also been discussed.
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