FMWC-Federation of Medical Women of Canada: Hamilton Chapter

Can you believe Women in Canada live at greater risk than men of domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment and sex trafficking? The recent Sarah Everard case has shed light on women’s safety all over the world. Here in Canada: -67% of Canadians know a woman who has experienced physical and sexual abuse... -Indigenous women are killed at 6x the rate of non-indigenous women -More than 6000 women and children sleep in shelters at night because it is not safe at home Violence against women can result in detrimental physical and mental health consequences. As healthcare professionals, it is important to be aware of: -various barriers faced by victims of abuse -the health impacts of violence against women -how to provide trauma informed care -various resources available in the community To learn more visit the following links: https://canadianwomen.org/the-facts/gender-based-violence/ https://www.justice.gc.ca//rp-pr/cj-jp/fv-vf/r/rr12_12.pdf https://www.canadianwomen.org//PDF-VP-Resources-BCSTH-CWF- And check out the event page from our previous post!

Check out the workshop hosted by the Trauma-Informed Care and Global Health Interest Groups, focused on providing trauma-informed care when delivering sexual and reproductive care, such as sexual histories and pelvic exams. This workshop will be hosted tomorrow, March 19th at 7pm.

Can you believe That women continue to be underrepresented in clinical trial and pharmaceutical research? Equitable representation of men and women in clinical trials is crucial in determining safety, effectiveness, and tolerance for all patients. Historically, women and other minority groups have been grossly underrepresented in research. This is further worsened by intersectionality of social identities. For example, black women continue to be one of the least represented ...groups in clinical trials. In addition, studies fail to include sex differences in study design and analysis which further hinders the progress of understanding women’s response to medications. A recent study examining this phenomena found that women experience adverse drug reactions nearly twice as often as men. This is because clinical trials fail to acknowledge sex differences in pharmacokinetics, which risks overmedicating or under-medicating women. In order to ensure more equitable health outcomes, it is important to challenge existing social structures by reframing health policies and study agendas. In order to address this issue on an individual level, it is important to inform women and intersecting minority groups about such clinical trials in which they can participate. Further readings: https://www.aafp.org//leadervoices/entry/20181204lv-clinic https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4800017/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466649/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1761670/ https://bsd.biomedcentral.com/ar/10.1186/s13293-020-00308-5

Can You Believe That women are often not taken seriously when presenting with pain in a healthcare setting? When women present to healthcare settings with pain they are often not taken as seriously by healthcare professionals as men are. Forcing female patients to repeatedly explain their stories to multiple healthcare workers can be quite exhausting, while patients also feel like they are not being heard. Additionally, dismissing patient concerns delays patient care and dia...gnosis, which could lead to worse prognosis, or even fatal consequences. A recent example is the horrific story of Joyce Echequan, an Indigenous woman who died in a hospital in Quebec after presenting with severe stomach pain. Not only were her concerns ignored, but she was subject to terrible degradation, highlighting how the Indigenous population is disproportionately affected by this issue within the Canadian healthcare system. As current and future healthcare professionals, it is necessary to listen to the voices and concerns of female patients when they present with symptoms of pain. Here are links to patient stories and resources regarding this topic: https://www.health.harvard.edu//women-and-pain-disparities https://www.bbc.com//20180518-the-inequality-in-how-women- https://www.bbc.com//20180523-how-gender-bias-affects-your https://www.ctvnews.ca//joyce-echaquan-s-death-highlights- https://www.sciencedirect.com//a/abs/pii/S0277953602005208 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18439195/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com//j.1748-720X.2001.tb00037.x https://www.sciencedirect.com///abs/pii/S0277953696001591

Women of all backgrounds experience healthcare disparities on a daily basis. As the FMWC aims to advocate for Women’s health and encourage education of women’s health issues, we would like to introduce our new initiative, "Can You Believe". This initiative will consist of monthly posts that aim to bring attention to various issues that women face within healthcare, along with resources to read further into these topics. With each month highlighting a different issue, we hope to holistically bring awareness to challenges that women face, while considering how they intersect with race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, and other identities.