here. - Canadian Women's Health Network

2. The Commonwealth Secretariat –Models of Good Practice in Women’s HealthWomen, Income andHealth in Manitoba45In 1996, the Commonwealth Secretariatpublished its Models of good practicerelevant to women and health, includingresearch, policy, implementation, strategies,testing and evaluation. 79 The 13 principlesincluded are reproduced below:SCOPE(1) Women’s health concerns extend overthe life cycle and are not limited toreproductive problems.(2) Women’s health problems include, butare not limited to, conditions, diseasesor disorders which are specific towomen, occur more commonly inwomen, or have differing risk factorsor course in women than in men.(3) Health must be considered in broadterms and both positively as well asnegatively. Dimensions of healthinclude the physical, mental, socialand spiritual.DETERMINANTS(4) Women’s health is directly affected bya range of socio-cultural, physicaland psychological factors.(5) Women have gender roles andresponsibilities which directly affecttheir level of access to and control ofresources necessary to protect theirhealth. These resources are external(economic, political, information/education, a safe environment freeof violence and time) as well asinternal (self-esteem, initiative)(6) Women are diverse in their age, class,race or ethnicity, religion, functionalcapacity, sexual orientation and socialcircumstances. These factors maylead to inequalities which adverselyaffect their health.COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION(7) Priority should be given to projects inwhich the issues have been identifiedas important by women themselves.Particular attention should be paid tothose issues raised by women whoare subject to inequities in their society.(8) Women from the target communityshould be involved in the planning,implementation, and evaluation orprojects involving their health.(9) Knowledge arising from projectsmust be accessible to all womenbut particularly women in the targetcommunity. This also means thatinformation must be provided informs appropriate to different levelsof education and literacy.METHODS(10) To address the complex issuesaffecting women’s health a broadbased,interdisciplinary genderedapproach is needed, involving andbringing together knowledge andmethods of social and healthscientists and other disciplineswhere appropriate.(11) Intersectoral approaches are neededto address the social factors affectingwomen’s health and life chances.These may involve the workingtogether of various governmentaldepartments with each other and withnongovernmental and communitybasedgroups and the private sector.(12) Knowledge from projects shouldalso inform and influence governmentpolicies and plans, legislation, researchand health care workers.(13) Where possible, there should beresource sharing of skills within regions.