The importance of gender in defining and improving quality of care: some conceptual issues

This paper discusses some conceptual underpinnings of research on gender and quality of health services and demonstrates the importance of training health professionals about how gender influences the health-illness-care process in men and women. It addresses the need to provide opportunities for health providers to understand how gender influences their own lives and work. It also describes the gendered nature of the health system itself, an aspect that is little understood and hence neglected in the training of health workers and the planning and provision of services. The paper demonstrates the need for interventions such as Health Workers for Change to sensitize health workers to the needs of female clients in particular, but also to their own constraints and challenges as health workers. It is also meant to stimulate further research into these issues, particularly among resource poor populations.