here. - Canadian Women's Health Network

I. FUTURE DIRECTIONSThere are opportunities for decisionmakers,health service providers and thepublic to use the knowledge about theconnections between income and health.In order to do this, they must:1. recognize the many complex andinterwoven ways in which incomeand gender affect health;2. consider the implications on healthof decisions made outside of thehealth care system;3. design and re-design health servicessystems in ways which recognize theneeds of low-income women;4. recognize that the impact of socioeconomicinequalities affects allaspects of women’s health. Thiswill require a major shift in theperspective of health plannersand health care service providers,to incorporate gender analysis indesign, implementation andevaluation throughout the healthcare system, and not only in thoseprograms with a specific“women’s health” mandate.While we may not have a detailed understandingof the mechanisms by whichincome and social status affect health,we know that the connection is there.Now is the time to use the knowledgewhich we do have to make changesto improve women’s health.Women, Income andHealth in Manitoba58