Documents Walters, Vivienne 5 results

"Data from the 1994 Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) do not confirm the widespread assumption that women experience considerably more ill health than men. The patterns vary by condition and age and at many ages, the health of women and men is more similar than is often assumed. However, we should not minimize the gender differences that do exist and in this paper we focus on three health problems which are more common among women: distress, migraine and arthritis/rheumatism. We consider to what extent work, household structure and social, personal and material resources explain these gender di.erences in health. Analysis of the distributions of paid work conditions, household circumstances and resources reveal mostly minor differences by gender and differences in exposure to these circumstances contribute little to understanding gender differences in health. There is also little evidence that greater vulnerability is a generalized health response of women to paid and household circumstances. We find limited evidence that social, personal and material resources are involved in pathways linking work and home circumstances to health in ways that differ between the sexes. "

"Recent research on gender and health challenges the prevailing notion of women's generalized health disadvantage by revealing a more variable pattern of gender differences in health. As such differences come to be comprehended as more complex than previously thought, there is a need to reassess the pathways linking gender and health. Although women reported more chronic stress and life events, their greater exposure accounted for only some of the gender disparity in health, and only for distress. Differential vulnerability to stressors played no role in explaining gender differences in health. These findings raise questions about a gendered, generalized health response to the vicissitudes of life and suggest the need for further theoretical and empirical exploration of "gendered" experiences and their pathways to health."

"This paper explores aspects of the social production of health by focussing on the ways in which levels of health are shaped by structures of social inequality and behaviors or ‘lifestyles'. We address two questions: What is the relative importance of the social, structural and behavioral determinants of health? And, are there gender differences in the determinants of health? These questions are explored using multiple regression analyses of data from the 1994 Canadian National Population Health Survey. Two measures of health are used: subjective health status and the Health Utilities Index (a measure of functional health status). By structural determinants we refer to age, family structure, main activity, education, occupation, income and social support. Behavioral determinants include lifestyle factors related to smoking, drinking, weight and physical activity. Findings indicate that the structures of social inequality are the most important determinants of health acting both independently and through their influence on the behavioral determinants of health. There are very real differences in the factors that predict women's and men's health. For women, social structural factors appear to play a more important role in determining health. Being in the highest income category, working full-time and caring for a family and having social support are more important predictors of good health for women than men. Smoking and alcohol consumption are more important determinants of health status for men than women, while body weight and being physically inactive are more important for women than men. Our findings suggest the value of models which include a wide range of structural and behavioral variables and affirm the importance of looking more closely at gender differences in the determinants of health."

"This paper presents data from interviews with 492 rank and file workers. It examines aspects of workers' perceptions, knowledge and actions regarding workplace hazards and views these as indicators of the potential strength of labour in improving occupational health and safety. Respondents had a strong consciousness of ways in which their work might damage their health and they or their fellow workers had experienced half of the symptoms they mentioned. However, they lacked information on the results of environmental and medical monitoring, their core legal rights and the more effective strategies for reducing hazards. Few respondents sought information and few were persistent in dealing with their worries about hazards. Knowledge of their rights under the current occupational health and safety legislation was linked with taking such actions. It is suggested that workers' pursuit of their health and safety concerns might be facilitated if they had better access to information about their legal rights and mechanisms for dealing with hazards in the workplace."