Health and Sustainability: New Gender Perspectives

Abstract

European health systems face important challenges related to the sustainability of health care, both from an economic point of view and in relation to the quality of health services provided in terms of continuous improvement of effectiveness, safety, clinical and organisational appropriateness. The ability of EU Member States to continue to provide high quality care to all, whatever their biological and socio-cultural characteristics, depends on their health systems becoming more sustainable. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen health promotion and disease prevention, to invest in primary care systems, to move health care out of the hospital and into more accessible ambulatory and domestic care, and to develop integrated care practices. Starting from these premises, the aim of this paper is to present a narrative overview of the main aspects related to Gender Medicine and its evolution over time. Our critical overview is, therefore, aimed at providing a general picture of what has been developed by health systems on Gender Medicine, with a particular focus on the relationship between social sustainability and Gender Medicine. To achieve our goal, we carry out a systematic literature review in order to understand what has been developed so far in the area and to highlight the possible evolution of studies in the field and to strengthen the awareness of the importance of encouraging prevention, training and information programs shared with hospitals, institutions, health professionals and patient associations. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is among the first studies that investigate through a systematic literature review the phenomenon of gender medicine, especially with reference to the sustainability of the health care system. Although our analysis needs further investigation, due to the fact that the topic is not yet fully mature, our initial and preliminary results underline the importance of further investigating gender diversity and assessing the possibility of promoting a clinical pathway to personalised treatment. In fact, only through a “gender medicine” approach it is possible to guarantee a real right to health and an effective personalisation of treatments, thus reinforcing the concept of patient focussed care and contributing to the sustainability of the whole health system.