Barriers to women's career attainment

Articles in the literature in the popular and professional journals and periodicals sustain the idea that significant barriers and a glass ceiling exist for women. While recognizing that overt and covert intentional discrimination may be a force in women's lack of career attainment, this work focuses on a network of semi-transparent societal and work world barriers which impede the career success of female healthcare managers.     

Is cardiovascular risk factor knowledge sufficient to influence behavior?

This paper examines the level of cardiovascular risk knowledge in the general population and the relationship between such knowledge and behavior. The following questions are addressed: (1) How informed is the general population about what persons can do to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease? (2) How do sociodemographic factors, self-perceptions of health, and cardiovascular risk factors relate to knowledge? (3) Is there a relationship between knowledge and behavior? (4) What might explain apparent inconsistencies between knowledge and behavior? The data used in this paper derive from a random sample of 732 men and women form the greater Boston area. We assessed cardiovascular risk factor knowledge by asking respondents what specific steps a person could take to make a heart attack or stroke less likely. Risk factors (including physiological measures), sociodemographic factors, and self-perceptions of health also were measured. Results showed that respondents were most knowledgeable about the relationships of exercise and cholesterol to heart disease. Knowledge was related positively to education, being female, and exercising. When we compared knowledge with behavior, results showed that for smokers and those who were overweight, risk was related to awareness, thus suggesting that knowledge does not lead necessarily to risk-reducing behavior. Implications of these results in terms of education and prevention are discussed.     

Barriers to Pacific women's use of cervical screening services

OBJECTIVE: The present study explored barriers to the use of cervical screening information and services from the perspective of Pacific women. METHOD: Qualitative, face-to-face interviews based on a snowball sampling approach were used in Palmerston North, New Zealand, in 1997, to assess attitudes among 20 Pacific women. RESULTS: The study found a high level of awareness of a local cervical screening program. Specific barriers determined were: a resistance to being defined as socially problematic, embarrassment, belief in the sacred nature of human sexuality, an anxiety about lack of confidentiality within small community groups, and a perceived relationship between cervical smears and sexual activity. CONCLUSIONS: Participants strongly preferred that information on cervical screening should be transmitted by interpersonal means, though pamphlets on screening services were also sought. The women agreed that the preferable role of a Pacific Island health professional would be in disseminating information, rather than actually serving as a smear-taker. IMPLICATIONS: The need for smear-taking should not be stereotyped as a 'Pacific problem'. Multi-racial images of women should be used in advertising to demonstrate that cervical smears are necessary regardless of ethnicity. Information providers need to show great sensitivity when providing information relevant to human reproduction or sexuality.     

Turkish women's knowledge of osteoporosis

BACKGROUND: Preventive measures including patient education can reduce hip fractures related to osteoporosis. Sometimes osteoporosis can be diagnosed with fractures or with a serious health problem, and most women are probably unaware of the risk factors which can be changed by prevention. The first step in preventing osteoporosis in women should be to make them aware of the risk factors. OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to determine Turkish women's knowledge about and attitudes to osteoporosis and its prevention. METHODS: A total of 311 women who applied to the Family Medicine department of the Middle East Technical University Medical Center were asked to fill in a questionnaire about osteoporosis. Only 270 of the 311 women who completed the entire questionnaire were included in the study. RESULTS: Nearly 90% of the women surveyed thought they were somewhat familiar with osteoporosis. However, >65% were unaware that the disease is directly responsible for disabling hip fractures, and >40% were unable to identify significant risk factors. Only 36% of the respondents could correctly identify the calcium-rich foods among the choices. CONCLUSION: According to our survey, a considerable number of the Turkish women in our settlement are unaware of the risk factors and the consequences of osteoporosis. Therefore, the women have inadequate knowledge of osteoporosis. There should be information resources easily accessible for the patients. The most important organizational incentives for providing patient information are further health promotion by the health authorities and the support of family physicians and the primary health care team.     

Choice as a risk to women's health

“Choice” has long been a principal demand of the women's health movement. This paper explores some ways in which current trends in biomedicine and health care may be transforming the concept of choice, and the choices provided to women, into risks to our well-being. The trends examined include the continuing neglect of structural constraints on women's abilities to choose; the framing of choice solely as an expression of individualism; and a vision of health care choices for women as ways to stimulate the economy. These trends present special risks for women because they co-opt our demands for gender-based health policies to support the commercialisation of health and health care. To counter these trends_' women will have to participate actively in the processes that determine what options are developed and made available to us, ensuring that the contexts of women's lives and our understandings of risks are addressed. Only then might choice be authentic, and not a risk for health.     

Barriers to adopting a Mediterranean diet in Northern European adults at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease

Background

Strong evidence links the consumption of a Mediterranean diet (MD) with a reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk; however, there is uncertainty as to whether non‐Mediterranean regions will adopt this diet. The present qualitative research aimed to investigate attitudes towards a MD in individuals at high CVD risk in a Northern European population. This information is needed to inform development of MD interventions in non‐Mediterranean high‐risk populations.

Methods

Focus groups (n = 12) were held with individuals at high CVD risk from Northern Europe (≥2 CVD risk factors, aged ≥50 years, no established CVD/type 2 diabetes). Attitudes to dietary change towards a MD were explored. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Sixty‐seven adults participated (60% female, mean age 64 years). There was some awareness of the term MD but limited knowledge of its composition. Barriers to general dietary change were evident, including perception of expense , concern over availability , expectation of time commitment , limited knowledge , lack of cooking skills , amount and conflicting nature of media information on diets , changing established eating habits and resistance to dietary change . Barriers specific to MD adoption were also identified, including perceived difficulty living in a colder climate , perceived impact on body weight , acceptability of a MD and cultural differences .

Conclusions

Knowledge of a MD was limited in this Northern European sample at high CVD risk. In addition to general barriers to dietary change, barriers specific to a MD were identified. These findings have implications for the development of interventions aiming to promote MD adoption in non‐Mediterranean populations.

     

Pregnant women's attitudes and knowledge in relation to access to serum-alpha-fetoprotein test

Serum-Alpha-Fetoprotein (se-AFP) screening is a controversial issue in Sweden. In some areas the test has never been offered, in others it is routinely offered to all pregnant women and there are areas where the se-AFP test has been offered but is no longer available but for very special indications. This pseudoexperimental situation was used to analyze the effects of different information environments on attitudes to and knowledge of testing procedures at the antenatal clinics, especially the se-AFP test, and anxiety of malformations. Consecutive series of pregnant women in these three areas filled in questionnaires at their first visit, in the 22nd to 24th, and the 32nd to 35th weeks of pregnancy, and after delivery. The attitudes to prenatal screening were most positive in the routine screening area and most negative in the area which previously but no longer offers the test. The level of knowledge was somewhat higher in the routine screening area at the first visit to the clinic and increased substantially, especially in the routine screening area.     

Midlife women's cardiovascular symptoms: A cluster analysis

Menopausal transition, in which biological and psychosocial changes are caused due to estrogen fluctuations, has been reported to increase cardiovascular risk among midlife women. The purposes of this study were to identify the clusters of midlife women by cardiovascular symptoms and to examine racial/ethnic differences in the clusters. This was a secondary analysis, in which hierarchical cluster and multinomial logistic analyses were conducted with the data (N = 966) collected in two previous studies. Three clusters were adopted: Cluster 1 (high vasomotor and low cardiorespiratory), Cluster 2 (low vasomotor and high cardiorespiratory and high discomfort/pain), and Cluster 3 (high discomfort/pain and high indigestion).     

Project-oriented research on aspects of women's knowledge and experience

A series of questions were devised in an attempt to determine rural Bengali women's knowledge on issues pertinent to a rural development project and to eventually influence the content of the centrally administered project. Questions focused on issues of women's involvement in areas of: 1) agriculture, with information gathered about post harvest rice production and animal husbandry; 2) income generation; 3) family planning, with information gathered on menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, sex and abortion; and 4) divorce.