| I recently had the honour of speaking at an event titled ‘Closing the gender gap in health research’, hosted by the Monash Women’s Health Alliance in partnership with Gender Equity Victoria, the Victorian Chapter of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes and Women’s Health Victoria.
The Monash Women’s Health Alliance, led by Monash University, is centred on improving women’s health outcomes at all ages.
To achieve this, effort and commitment must span discovery research, clinical research and registry science through to public health research and research translation. And the best work is underpinned by exceptional collaborations and networks, data and implementation science and advocacy. Research must also focus on the codesign of digital health tools and capacity building for early career researchers in women’s health.
Enabling the careers of women in health research is crucial. We must invest strongly in our early and mid-career researchers in Women’s Health. Dr Emma Foster, a Monash Partners Star Fellow and Consultant Neurologist at Alfred Health, spoke about her research into the hidden pandemic of migraine which disproportionally affects women compared to men. Headache disorders are the third leading cause of disability globally and migraine costs Australia approximately $35.7 billion each year. However, there are no robust Australian studies to determine the number of people living with migraine or where the major treatment gaps are. Dr Foster is working to establish a national strategy for migraine to measure the prevalence and management of migraine.
But ultimately, impactful research happens through active partnerships between researchers, clinicians, consumers and the community. If research and healthcare improvement efforts are to truly address the needs and priorities of consumers and the community, our aim must be genuine and meaningful engagement with all stakeholders. This includes involving consumers and front-line clinicians at the very beginning, to understand the problem/issue from multiple perspectives.
At Monash Partners, we have consumer and community involvement resources available, including general and practical information to meaningfully conduct and embed consumer and community in research, and guidance for remuneration to ensure consumers are valued in the work they do. These tools better ensure women are involved in research that will act to change medical misogyny.
This will contribute to closing the gender gap.
To read more on the Monash Women’s Health Alliance, click here.
To read more on Monash Partners Consumer and Community Involvement resources, click here.
L-R: The Hon. Jill Hennessy, The Hon. Mary Anne Thomas (Minister for Health), Professor Carol Hodgson and Dr Emma Foster at the ‘Closing the gender gap in health research’ event. |
