12.K. Workshop: Gender-sensitive and intersectional health monitoring and reporting: putting theory into practice
Authors:   Organised by: MHB (Germany),   Chair persons: Christine Holmberg - Germany, Gabriele Bolte - Germany
Published: October 2020

Public health monitoring and reporting (PHMR) provides compilations of up-to-date epidemiological data from multiple sources and their interpretation. Health reports are aimed at users in public health policy but should also inform civil society, healthcare professionals, or students. Recently, stakeholders from civil society were increasingly involved in the process of PHMR to identify topics that are relevant for diverse population groups. PHMR inter alia seeks to identify population groups at need of health promotion or healthcare and, thus, to contribute to achieve health equity. High-, middle- and low-income countries alike have developed reporting systems that describe the health of populations according to categories of difference such as sex/gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. In the past, most of these reports have focused on single categories and dichotomous presentations.

Scholars involved in PHMR have pointed out that health reports focusing on sex/gender should compare disease burden between women and men, display heterogeneity within the groups of women and men, consider the social context and make use of theory to interpret findings in order to be gender-sensitive. We argue that an intersectional framework might be suited to inform gender-sensitive health reporting. Intersectionality posits that categories of difference cannot be thought of independently because systems of power and oppression that create inequalities are mutually constituting and reinforcing. An intersectional perspective, for example, visualises heterogeneity within supposedly homogenous societal groups such as women and men. Moreover, intersectionality was proposed as a ground-breaking theoretical framework for public health because its aim to achieve social justice by considering socio-structural systems of differentiation and subordination and by empowering all parts of society is well in line with the goal of health equity.

In this workshop, we aim to discuss implications of intersectionality for the practice of gender-sensitive PHMR. To create a foundation for the panel discussion, we will present a theoretical argument about why PHMR should consider the epistemological and methodological principles of intersectionality, and present suggestions for a gender-sensitive and intersectional practice of PHMR, based on research of the joint project AdvanceGender. AdvanceGender brings together interdisciplinary researchers to translate principles of intersectionality into methods and suggestions for gender-sensitive health reporting and population health research. A panel consisting of members of AdvanceGender and experts in public policy, data analysis and health reporting will draw on research and practice internationally and on a range of methods and applications of intersectionality to research and policy. The panel discussion will focus on the feasibility of suggested methods and applications in PHMR, and their contributions towards health equity.

Key messages

We will present a theoretical rationale to consider the epistemological and methodological principles of intersectionality in public health monitoring and reporting. A panel will discuss implications of intersectionality for the practice of gender-sensitive public health monitoring and reporting and possible contributions to achieving health equity.