Beyond words: operationalizing inclusive language in Australian cervical screening health promotion policy

Health equity is a fundamental concern within the broader health promotion aim of creating equal opportunities for health and bringing health differentials down to the lowest level possible. Cervical screening is just one example of a preventative health program where a health promotion lens is required to address entrenched health inequities. We draw on theorizations of policy ecologies to provide a framework for better understanding the processes involved in operationalizing policy with greater inclusivity in language in health promotion. Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 key informants between April and October 2022 to explore the operationalization of inclusive language in health promotion in the context of a national program to promote cervical screening to currently underscreening communities in Australia. Four thematic categories emphasize the balance required between demands and domains: (i) the need for clinical guidelines and flexibility in their translation and interpretation; (ii) organizational mandates, clinical practice, and patient-centred care; (iii) socio-cultural norms, behaviours, and attitudes amid politicized/ing milieus; and (iv) community preferences and the need for medical accuracy. As such, we identified how the operationalization of inclusive language in policy is influenced by and influences other domains where cervical screening is promoted. These findings hold wider implications for how the historical legacies of and contemporary need for 'women's health' can be maintained and respected amid demands for greater gender inclusion. At the same time, the failure to trace diverse and diffuse modes and contexts of operationalization may (re)produce health inequities in practice if left unexamined.