Women’s equality in the UK – A health check
Women’s equality in the UK – A health check
Women’s equality in the UK – A health check
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Older women have reported <strong>in</strong>creased pressure on <strong>health</strong> and social care services as <strong>health</strong><br />
and Local Authorities struggle with reduced budgets. Not only is access to services an issue,<br />
concerns have also been expressed about quality. 72 This has been confirmed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> EHRC<br />
<strong>in</strong>quiry 73 <strong>in</strong>to domiciliary care <strong>in</strong> England and Wales.<br />
Older women are less likely to be referred for treatment or to be given <strong>the</strong> appropriate<br />
treatment once referred. This applies for a range of conditions <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g cancer, heart disease<br />
and stroke. 74 The Health Service Ombudsman’s report 75 <strong>in</strong> February 2011 outl<strong>in</strong>ed ten illustrative<br />
cases of seriously poor or negligent care breach<strong>in</strong>g older people’s human rights. 76<br />
Case Study: 77<br />
“Carers and patients are unable to establish relationships (with <strong>the</strong> professionals) and<br />
patients just feel like a commodity.”<br />
Scottish older woman.<br />
Recommendation:<br />
Ensure that <strong>the</strong> education and tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g of all <strong>health</strong> and social care professionals<br />
<strong>in</strong>cludes awareness of, and <strong>the</strong> specialist skills needed, to enable <strong>the</strong>m to respond to<br />
<strong>the</strong> needs of an age<strong>in</strong>g population<br />
Carer’s <strong>health</strong><br />
Carers, 58% of whom are women, are more likely to suffer from physical and mental <strong>health</strong><br />
problems 78 and are twice as likely to be ‘permanently sick or disabled’. 79 People car<strong>in</strong>g for<br />
50 hours a week or more are twice as likely to be <strong>in</strong> poor <strong>health</strong> as those not car<strong>in</strong>g, while<br />
27% of those car<strong>in</strong>g for more than 20 hours a week report mental <strong>health</strong> problems. 80 Over<br />
50% of women will be carers before <strong>the</strong>y are 60 and are more likely than men to give up paid<br />
work to care.<br />
Eat<strong>in</strong>g disorders<br />
One <strong>in</strong> every 20 women will experience some form of eat<strong>in</strong>g distress dur<strong>in</strong>g her lifetime, with<br />
<strong>the</strong> majority of sufferers aged between 14 and 25. 81 Nearly 1% of women <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>UK</strong> between<br />
72. Sclater, E. (2012) NGO Thematic Shadow Report: Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Rights <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United K<strong>in</strong>gdom. Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Network,<br />
Europe and National Alliance of <strong>Women’s</strong> Organisations http://<strong>the</strong>womensresourcecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/<br />
olderwomensrightsukNGO<strong>the</strong>matic.pdf<br />
73. Equality and Human Rights Commission (2011) Close to Home: An <strong>in</strong>quiry <strong>in</strong>to older people and human rights <strong>in</strong> home care. EHRC: London<br />
http://www.<strong>equality</strong>humanrights.com/legal-and-policy/<strong>in</strong>quiries-and-assessments/<strong>in</strong>quiry-<strong>in</strong>to-home-care-of-older-people/close-tohome-report/<br />
74. Sclater, E. (2012) NGO Thematic Shadow Report: Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Rights <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United K<strong>in</strong>gdom. Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Network,<br />
Europe and National Alliance of <strong>Women’s</strong> Organisations http://<strong>the</strong>womensresourcecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/<br />
olderwomensrightsukNGO<strong>the</strong>matic.pdf<br />
75. Health Service Ombudsman (2011) Care and Compassion? Report of <strong>the</strong> Health Service Ombudsman on ten <strong>in</strong>vestigations <strong>in</strong>to NHS care<br />
of older people. http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/care-and-compassion<br />
76. For fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>formation on older women’s <strong>health</strong> see Sclater, E. (2012) NGO Thematic Shadow Report: Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Rights <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United<br />
K<strong>in</strong>gdom. Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Network, Europe and National Alliance of <strong>Women’s</strong> Organisations http://<strong>the</strong>womensresourcecentre.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/olderwomensrightsukNGO<strong>the</strong>matic.pdf<br />
77. Sclater, E. (2012) NGO Thematic Shadow Report: Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Rights <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United K<strong>in</strong>gdom. Older <strong>Women’s</strong> Network,<br />
Europe and National Alliance of <strong>Women’s</strong> Organisations http://<strong>the</strong>womensresourcecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/<br />
olderwomensrightsukNGO<strong>the</strong>matic.pdf<br />
78. Carer’s <strong>UK</strong>, Statistics and facts about carers http://www.carersuk.org/newsroom/stats-and-facts Accessed: 13/04/13<br />
79. Carer’s <strong>UK</strong>, Statistics and facts about carers http://www.carersuk.org/newsroom/stats-and-facts Accessed: 13/04/13<br />
80. Stephenson, M. and Harrison, J. (2011) Unravell<strong>in</strong>g Equality: A Human Rights and Equality Impact Assessment of <strong>the</strong> Spend<strong>in</strong>g Cuts on<br />
Women <strong>in</strong> Coventry. A Jo<strong>in</strong>t Report of <strong>the</strong> Centre for Human Rights <strong>in</strong> Practice, University of Warwick and Coventry <strong>Women’s</strong> Voices http://<br />
www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/chrp/projectss/humanrightsimpactassessments/cwv/<br />
81. M<strong>in</strong>d, Understand<strong>in</strong>g eat<strong>in</strong>g problems http://www.m<strong>in</strong>d.org.uk/mental_<strong>health</strong>_a-z/7978_understand<strong>in</strong>g_eat<strong>in</strong>g_problems Accessed<br />
13/04/13<br />
<strong>Women’s</strong> <strong>equality</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>UK</strong>: CEDAW shadow report 2013 119