Gender Roles

Unpaid health and child care provided in the household, along with other activities that contribute to the physical, cognitive, and emotional development of members of a household, have a major impact on individual and public well-being, as well as on the human development potential of the countries. These economic activities, performed largely by women, take place outside the market and are therefore invisible in the economic statistics and national accounts systems of most countries. [from abstract]

The aim of this article was to compare the advance of women with that of men and determine the differences between hierarchical status and professional recognition achieved by women in medicine. Methods A retrospective study was carried out in the Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain, of the period from 1996 to 2008. [from abstract]

Through interviews, researchers found Kenyan women medical clinical researchers shared similar motivations as US women but differed as well. Kenyan medical doctors pursued health research within a context of limited resources, but the ability to balance work and family while contributing to public health through research and leadership was highly valued. [adapted from abstract]

To promote organizational learning and action related to political will and accountability, leadership and management, technical capacity, organizational culture, human resources policies and programs that promote gender equality, non-discrimination, and equal opportunity and treatment with respect to recruitment, hiring, training, remuneration, conditions of work,and programming at Society for Family Health. [from abstract]

This study evaluated the effect of a program that trained community health nurses and relocated them to the community to provide door-to-door services on the level of male involvement in family planning services. [adapted from author]

In Pakistan, where gendered norms restrict women’s mobility, female community health workers (CHWs) provide doorstep primary health services to home-bound women. This study aims to understand how these cultural norms affect CHWs’ home-visit rates and the quality of services delivered. [from abstract]

In 2008 the Capacity Project partnered with the Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in a study of the gender dynamics of HIV/AIDS caregiving in three districts of Lesotho to account for men’s absence in HIV/AIDS caregiving and investigate ways in which they might be recruited into the community and home-based care workforce. [from abstract]

This paper describes a project that has implemented an integrated male engagement program to address gender and family planning/reproductive health in a workplace HIV/AIDS Program. [from author]

In Lesotho, as in many other countries, the HIV and AIDS care burden falls on the shoulders of women and girls in unpaid, invisible household and community work. This gender inequity in HRH needs to be addressed to ensure fair and sustainable responses to the need for home and community-based HIV/AIDS care and support. The Capacity Project addressed these issues through a study of men as providers of HIV/AIDS care and support. [from author]

AIDS is a long and debilitating illness that renders patients unable to fend for themselves. In wealthy countries, health systems provide much of the necessary care; in the developing world, however, the burden is taken up by family and community members, a large majority of whom are women. This paper outlines some of the causes of this imbalance and makes recommendations for governments as they attempt to address the problem. [adapted from introduction]

This report details the work of the the Capacity Project assistance to the Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to strengthen its capacity to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by addressing gender segregation in nonformal caregiving through the active engagement of men as providers of community and home-based HIV/AIDS care and support. [adapted from foreword]

This video resource shows that despite the awareness advancement regarding reproductive health, women in Jordan still bear the burden of their health alone. This is especially true in rural areas; however, despite social criticism, men have decided to stand by their wives. [adapted from synopsis]

This video resource details the social, economic and health care services disparities between urban and rural areas of Tajikistan and how women there struggle with their health and the role of men, or the lack thereof, in supporting them. [adapted from synopsis]

Pakistan has introduced female health workers to make sure that women are able to receive the health care they need. However, these health workers face the same cultural constraints as other women in their society. Male colleagues and managers must be more supportive to female health workers, whilst formal structures should be provided for training and effective complaints procedures. [from author]

This study investigates the experiences of informal caregivers of people living with HIV in two semi-rural communities in South Africa. It is argued that a thorough understanding of how home-based care undermines the physical health and psychological wellbeing of already vulnerable women is crucial for informing policies on home-based care. Thus, there is a need to incorporate gender perspectives when planning and implementing home-based care programs. [from abstract]

These training modules and handouts provide the materials to conduct a two day workshop designed to help participants define gender and related concepts; understand the continuum of gender as it relates to integration in projects; understand the six domains of gender and related questions; apply a process for gender analysis to HRH contexts; understand where and how gender can be integrated in HRH country strategies. [adapted from author]

Horizons, in collaboration with CARE International and Family Health Trust, conducted a quasiexperimental intervention study to determine which care and support needs of people living with HIV and AIDS and their families could be met by trained youth, and to establish whether youth engaged in formalized care and support activities would increase their adoption of protective behaviors or reduce the stigma faced by members of AIDS-affected households.

The study was conducted in semi-urban and rural communities in two provinces of northern Zambia located 700 to 1,000 kilometers from Lusaka.