Policy briefs:
Gender and Chronic disease
All our policy briefs now completing a major revision of their look and feel to achieve the following:
- Easier to read.
- Colour emphasising paragraphs and sections.
- Larger images for easier viewing.
- Drop information or imagery that was superfluous or using “local” approaches has been edited down. e.g. using dashes to form “new terms” were confusing to our readers, especially for non English readers.
- We continuously seek comments or feedback from our users to improve the value of our presentations.
Texts are designed to make “on screen reading” easier with no columns, no need to scroll back or forward when reading. Images have been increased size to assist readers to clearly see, use and interpret the valiable data they contain if their format allowed.
Colour helps break up documents to aid reading. Fonts highlight document paragraphs and to make them easier to follow.
We try to limit text to 14 words per line to assist and improve reading and help your retention. Size of texts ican still be xhanges in your own browser.
Reference indexes and content have been increased in size to aid readability. Identification and confirmation of links has been improved by a move to one style i.e. Arabic numerals which have been in common everyday use in Europe for ove 800 years. removing Roman numeral notation is removed do somplifying the information for the reader.
Some images have had their download size reduced, if appropriate.
Printing costs are lowered when you avoid uneccessary blocks of background colour for text backdrops. Reduced file sizes reduce printing costs, time and use less ink, so are cheaper and more eco friendly when reporducing. It means cheaper, faster print especially if multiple copies are needed and a small step to reduce our environmental impact.
We try to make our policy briefs:
• Reasonable in length and a stand alone document covering key facts and needs.
• A focus on one major health topic or sub topic and its potential for development.
• Between 2 and 10 pages long, using normally around 4000 words.
They are intended to inform a wide audience of citizens from decision makers to health consumers interested in health, specific diseases or social issues that may effect or impact on health, health policy, its resources used to provide or deliver better health for all.
The EIWH intends when it has any spare resources, to regularly publish information in various formats newsletters, reports, presentations, each designed to summarise or inform you about our activities both formal and informal. To do this, we use a number of information tools i.e. in relation to policy we use Policy Briefs.
Policy Briefs intend to provide most, if not all, major information points needed by policy or decision makers as well as the wide audience of interested citizens – to help them understand and so progress specific issues related in health e.g., gender or chronic disease areas.
Our policy briefs below have undergone a design and usability upgrade and are now available again. They fall into 2 main groups.
Chronic disease policy briefs:
Chronic diseases are the leading cause of illness and death in the EU. These diseases create a heavy burden for EU citizens and healthcare systems. With ageing populations and lifestyle changes, chronic diseases are increasingly affecting EU citizens now and in the future. Chronic diseases can have different effects on all individuals.
Gender largely impacts susceptibility, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. As a result, it is imperative that people across the EU are aware of how gendered exposures and vulnerabilities influence chronic diseases.
Gender impacts on chronic diseases have been under studied and under discussion throughout the EU. The European Institute of Women’s Health generates policy briefings and/or fact sheets on a wide range of health an related topics.
Our policy briefings will be succinct, use simple language, help reduce health literacy while increasing awareness at regional and EU level. Policy briefings can describe how gender impacts on various chronic diseases and provide policy recommendations to highlight issues with policymakers, stakeholders, and EU citizens. The EIWH intends to generate, publish, and distribute more briefings in the coming years.
Chronic diseases include but not limited to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, respiratory tract and autoimmune diseases (such as Lupus), arthritis, musculoskeletal and osteoporosis specifically.
Our current list of Chronic disease policy briefs include:
- Women and Aids / HIV (updated 2022)
- Women and Alcohol (updated 2022)
- Women and Breast Cancer in EU – a Life Course Approach (2022)
- Women and Smoking (updated 2022)
- Pregnancy and Smoking (updated 2022)
Gender Policy Briefs:
Our participation in ENGENDER, a DG Health and Consumer funded project, completed in 2012.
Part of our activity is to increase awareness and knowledge of all stakeholders, especially policy makers, politicians, researchers, health NGOs in and outside the health sector about effective policies and programmes to achieve gender equity in health.
Six policy briefings were produced by us for the ENGENDER partnership. These were based on an analysis of the ENGENDER good practice database for promoting gender equity in health.
The briefs were designed to provide practical examples on each policy area, informing policymakers of best practice models for promoting gender equity in policy development in each of the 6 policy areas as follows:
EIWH policy briefs developed by us for EUgenmed project were:
- Sex and gender in cardiovascular disease
- Sex and gender in asthma
- Sex and gender in diabetes
- Sex and gender in lung cancer
- Sex and gender in stroke
- Sex and Gender in Healthcare Professional Education (2017)
