Promoting women's health: redefining the knowledge base and strategies for change

Promoting women's health involves undertaking a critical gender-based analysis of women's health status and health needs and the knowledge bases which underlie health promotion action. The authors argue that professional and lay definitions of health problems often differ and that these differences stem from a differential emphasis on existing knowledge bases. Here the authors explore the focus of epidemiological, clinical, and experiential knowledge and suggest ways in which each does or does not address many key health issues which women themselves identify as important. Attention is also directed towards women's own suppressed and devalued knowledge as embodied in traditional folk practices and alternative care forms. Recommendations are made to improve existing knowledge bases by transforming some of the value orientations, priorities, methods and the social organization of research. The authors suggest that positive health promotion strategies must be based on an improved knowledge base and must incorporate three key concepts which women emphasize as central--self determination, women-centred values, and a gender-based political analysis. Strategies and methods to achieve these ends are suggested for health educators and policy-makers who wish to develop more positive approaches to promoting women's health.