Workshop summary: National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2022 scientific workshop on gender and health

Elizabeth Barr; Pablo F Belaunzarán-Zamudio; Janine Austin Clayton; Melissa S Gerald; Gregory L Greenwood; Keisher Highsmith; Beth K Jaworski; Amelia Karraker; Sarah Kobrin; Marrah Lachowicz-Scroggins; Christine Maric-Bilkan; Ronna Popkin; Erik Roodzant; Cheryse A Sankar; Theresa E Senn; Rona Siskind; Sarah M Temkin

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116435

Workshop summary: National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2022 scientific workshop on gender and health

Soc Sci Med. 2024 Jun:351 Suppl 1:116435. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116435. Epub 2024 May 31.

Authors

Elizabeth Barr¹, Pablo F Belaunzarán-Zamudio², Janine Austin Clayton³, Melissa S Gerald⁴, Gregory L Greenwood⁵, Keisher Highsmith⁶, Beth K Jaworski⁷, Amelia Karraker⁴, Sarah Kobrin⁸, Marrah Lachowicz-Scroggins⁹, Christine Maric-Bilkan¹⁰, Ronna Popkin¹¹, Erik Roodzant¹², Cheryse A Sankar¹³, Theresa E Senn⁵, Rona Siskind¹⁴, Sarah M Temkin³

Affiliations

¹ National Institutes of Health, Office of Research on Women's Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [Contractor], Bethesda, MD, USA.
³ National Institutes of Health, Office of Research on Women's Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴ National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁵ National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁶ United States Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁷ National Institutes of Health, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁸ National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁹ National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹⁰ National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹¹ National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹² Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, VA, USA; National Institutes of Health, Office of Research on Women's Health [Contractor], Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹³ National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹⁴ National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA.

PMID: 38825375
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116435

Abstract

In this manuscript, we summarize the goals, content, and impact of the Gender and Health: Impacts of Structural Sexism, Gender Norms, Relational Power Dynamics, and Gender Inequities workshop held by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) in collaboration with 10 NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices. Specifically, we outline the key points emerging from the workshop presentations, which are the focus of the collection of articles in this supplement. The overarching goals of the workshop were to convene NIH staff, the external scientific community, and the public to discuss methods, measurement, modifiable factors, interventions, and best practices in health research on gender as a social and cultural variable and to identify opportunities to advance research and foster collaborations on these key topics. Themes emerging from the workshop include the need for intersectional measures in research on gender and health, the role of multilevel interventions and analyses, and the importance of considering gender as a social and structural determinant of health. Careful, nuanced, and rigorous integration of gender in health research can contribute to knowledge about and interventions to change the social and structural forces that lead to disparate health outcomes and perpetuate inequities.

Keywords: Gender norms; Health; Power; Structural sexism.

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Male
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)*
Sexism
United States
Women's Health*