Women, Caregivers, and The Healthcare Challenge
As primary caregivers, women’s attitudes to health play an outsized role in the health and wellness of families. From choosing providers to attending appointments, making treatment choices, filling prescriptions, following up, and managing day-to-day, women must not only take care of themselves, but bear enormous responsibility as caregivers for their children, parents, and often other family members, too.
A study by the Center for Talent Innovation published in March 2015* confirmed that women “are the healthcare decision-makers of their families” with 94% of women making healthcare decisions for themselves, 59% making healthcare decisions for others, and 94% of working mothers making decisions for others.
The same study revealed that women see health “more broadly than ‘freedom from illness and health risk’.” When asked about their attitudes, 79% of women reported that health means “having spiritual and emotional wellbeing” and 77% value “being physically fit and well rested”.
“79% of women reported that health means having spiritual and emotional wellbeing”
These attitudes tell us a lot about what women are striving for and, therefore, how important it is to meet their needs in order to support the health and wellness of families as a whole. As primary caregivers, women need quality information, compassion, and support that equips them in their role as key healthcare decision-makers.
According to 2015-16 data from the CDC, of the 1 in 5 adults who are caregivers, 58% are women. Caregivers typically provide intense care, with 50% dedicating at least two years and 30% spending up to 20 hours of time per week on household tasks or personal care assistance.
Caregivers who are mothers bear even more responsibility for healthcare in their households. Approximately 3/4 of mothers versus 1/5 of fathers oversee their children’s healthcare including choosing providers, taking them to appointments, and following through with recommended care and treatments.
These duties have significant economic implications. While working men and women are offered similar healthcare benefits at face value, these benefits don’t account for the additional responsibility of time spent on healthcare management for the family. Nearly 1/5 of children miss more than a week of school each year and 40% of women report having to miss work to stay home with their child while only 10% of men do so.
The impact of caring for children is particularly significant for low-income women and those who live in rural areas. Of those who stay home with their ill children, 56% do not get paid for their time off. Without paid leave, many mothers cannot afford to take time off to care for children or family members, challenging their ability to earn income in addition to creating pressure on family dynamics. Policies, such as the Family Medical Leave Act, that protect families from losing income due to minor illnesses within the family and require employers to provide a minimum number of paid sick days, have been enacted in only 9 states and Washington, DC.
Given these challenges, working women have little time to dedicate to their own, personal well-being. 72% feel that they are not maintaining their own health, and over 75% feel unsure what to do to stay healthy in the first place.
Moreover, women’s trust in the healthcare system is staggeringly low. Not only must they navigate a barrage of information and misinformation, but 78% do not trust their insurance provider, 83% do not trust pharmaceutical companies, and over 50% of women say they lack trust in their relationships with their healthcare providers.
The same study by The Center for Talent Innovation reported 58% of women with children under 18 years old claimed to be knowledgeable about keeping themselves and loved ones healthy, while only 18% passed a health literacy quiz. Given the role they play in caring for their families, this knowledge and trust gap has a compounded negative impact.
The gap between women’s aspirations around health and wellness, and their lived experience caring for themselves and their families is significant. Healthcare professionals and organizations must recognize this opportunity and better support women in their role as key decision-makers in family healthcare, while also addressing their personal
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*Note: There are surprisingly few recent studies on women and their attitudes to healthcare available in the public domain.