Overview

Health status and the experience of working in health care roles are both strongly shaped by gender and, although there have been attempts to incorporate a gender awarenessa (TM) in both health and employment policies, the significance of gender in these areas continues to be marginalised within public debates and academic discourses. Taking a social constructionist perspective, Watts considers the ways in which gender impacts upon health in all its elements including access, technology, professionalisation, health promotion and health as an important sector of the labour market. She discusses gender as a developing and diversified category, exploring ideas about masculinity and the fluidity of gender boundaries in determining individual identity. Chapters that follow discuss mena (TM)s and womena (TM)s health; ideology of gender and health specifically exploring different social norms and ideas about male and female health and the dominant ideological association between femaleness and caring; working for health with particular focus on the gendered interplay of caring and curing roles; technology and changes to gender, health and healthcare; health promotion as a gendered activity and, finally, the importance of introducing an intersectional approach beyond gender to articulate a deeper understanding of health in a postmodern context. The concluding chapter draws together these themes to underscore the importance of placing gender at the centre of health and health care delivery to fully take account of both the different life and health experiences of men and women and the gendered dimensions of working in health care.

Full Product Details

9781409468370

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Jacqueline H. Watts' eminently readable text takes us on an exhilarating journey through the gendered health and healthcare landscape. With a firm grip on theory, Watts illustrates how gender plays out in the organisation, delivery and experience of health and healthcare and why it matters. Accessible, thought-provoking and beautifully written, the book is a must for anyone with an interest in health and healthcare and gendered inequalities.' Helen Lomax, University of Northampton, UK 'Gender, Health and Healthcare is a magnificent piece of scholarship. Watts has provided an authentic and critical book that has exceptional coverage of conceptual, theoretical, policy and practice issues associated with health care. It is extremely well written with imaginative examples that impinge on understanding gender. It is bound to be a leader in the international literature on health and healthcare and deserves to be cited amongst the literature for several decades to come.' Jason L. Powell, McMaster University, Canada

Author Information

Jacqueline H. Watts is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University in London, UK.

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