A report examined the impact of women's body image during pregnancy and after child birth. It considered the value of early public health intervention by midwives and health visitors in protecting babies through supporting new mothers with body image issues.
Source: Susie Orbach and Holli Rubin, Two for the Price of One: The impact of body image during pregnancy and after birth, Government Equalities Office
Links: Report | GEO press release
Date: 2014-Jun
A think-tank report said that, if cervical screening coverage were to reach 100 per cent, the incidence of cancer would halve, resulting in estimated reductions in costs to the National Health Service of almost one half, and costs to the state of around one third, as well as costs to women diagnosed with cervical cancer reducing by around 40 per cent. The report made recommendations for increasing the number of women regularly attending screening by removing practical, psychological, and emotional barriers associated with the procedure, including recommendations for coverage of cervical cancer in awareness campaigns, and for making testing more readily available on demand and through out of hours services.
Source: Jo Salter, Behind the Screen, Demos
Links: Report | Summary | Demos press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2014-Jun
A report examined women's experiences of poor mental health and well-being, and their experiences within the mental health system in England, with a focus on women who had experienced sexual violence, black and minority-ethnic women, and women affected by HIV. It said that, overall, the integration of need in policy processes and structures was inconsistent, and that there was a clear need for a consistent, gender-specific approach in the commissioning and delivery of mental health services. The report made a range of recommendations.
Source: 'I Am More Than One Thing': A guiding paper by Imkaan, Positively UK and Rape Crisis England and Wales on women and mental health, Imkaan/Positively UK/Rape Crisis England and Wales
Date: 2014-May
An article examined working-class men's perceptions and experiences regarding gender differences in health. Men put forward a range of behavioural/cultural, materialist/structural, and psychosocial factors, which were believed to have different impacts on their health compared with women's.
Source: Alan Dolan, '"Men give in to chips and beer too easily": how working-class men make sense of gender differences in health', Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, Volume 18 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Mar