Charting Women’s Health Trends In 2024

Gender bias is discovered in lots of locations and medical analysis holds no exception. It took till 1990, the identical yr NASA launched the Hubble House Telescope (which was a long time within the planning), for the Nationwide Institutes of Well being to determine their Workplace of Analysis on Ladies’s Well being. 

Quick ahead 30 years, and we’ve seen quite a few selections which have helped reshape attitudes in the direction of girls’s well being, together with influential coverage change, however as we head in the direction of 2024, girls proceed to voice mistreatment or misdiagnosis, exhibiting there’s nonetheless a mountain to climb. 

Our client analysis information highlights persistent gender disparities inside healthcare, with insights on the other ways girls are taking their well being into their very own fingers, and the way manufacturers exterior of the healthcare business can undertake a extra complete strategy to girls’s well being.

The present state of play 

Earlier than we get into the ladies’s well being traits of 2024, let’s take a step again and take a look at the present state of play. We are able to look to the American market to present us clues on the present outlook of ladies’s well being.

Within the US, girls’s considerations about their private well being have climbed 25% since Q2 2020. 

This upward curve is especially noticeable amongst Black/African American and Hispanic girls. These teams usually face disproportionate challenges with points similar to maternity care.

1. Ladies want to female-centric well being manufacturers

The obvious gaps in girls’s healthcare inside mainstream companies has given rise to a lot of women-centric well being manufacturers that provide companies protecting all the things from common check-ups to particular look after menopause and fertility – offering a a lot wanted breath of recent air to an outdated system. This highlights the vital position of manufacturers in shedding gentle on the distinctive well being considerations of ladies and contributing to a extra inclusive and equitable panorama. 

2. Ladies are embracing pure cures, nutritional vitamins, and dietary supplements to spice up their general wellbeing  

Past particular well being considerations, girls are shifting demand in the direction of a rise in general wellbeing. This shift lays the groundwork for a deeper exploration of tips on how to deal with girls’s well being.

Total we’ve seen preferences rising for nutritional vitamins, pure medicines, and various remedies. The variety of girls within the US who say they use natural/pure medicines to deal with minor sicknesses/illnesses is up by 18% because the finish of 2020. 

3. Ladies are prioritizing their intestine well being 

Aligning with the broader international development, prioritizing intestine well being is a selected focus for girls. Over 1 in 3 girls within the US take dietary supplements for digestive well being, and we’ve seen a 21% enhance in girls taking probiotics to deal with digestive issues because the finish of 2020. However it’s not solely sure remedies or medicines the place we’ve seen progress, curiosity in diversified consuming habits has additionally grown. 

As research proceed to seek out hyperlinks between girls’s well being points like PCOS and the intestine microbiome, embracing these traits might also have extra advantages. In 2024, adopting a larger give attention to substances and available data on the dietary advantages of merchandise steers manufacturers in the direction of the accountable training of ladies’s well being, giving girls the instruments to take well being issues into their very own fingers earlier than they make a visit to the physician. 

4. Customers need sensible measures for girls’s well being 

Examples of how girls’s well being is significant for the worldwide economic system sign that in 2024, manufacturers must not solely give attention to their merchandise, however they should make the well being of their feminine staff a precedence. 

Within the subsequent yr, girls’s well being points like abortion shall be a key concern for voters within the run as much as the Presidential election within the US. The difficulty has already invigorated Individuals throughout the political spectrum, but it surely’s additionally the worldwide impression of overturning Roe v. Wade that ought to draw manufacturers consideration not solely in the direction of abortion or contraception, however how the momentum to help girls’s well being concurrently helps their financial energy.

Globally, we see that it’s not solely girls who’re advocating for office insurance policies that prioritize girls’s well being. 

42% of males in 10 markets wish to see employers supply paid go away for girls’s well being points. 

Since July 2022, there’s been an unwavering change in customers’ prioritizing paid go away for girls’s well being points. However there have been some adjustments to customers’ wants since we final requested what they wish to see employers do extra to help girls’s well being points. As of September 2023, training on the misconceptions of ladies’s well being alongside employers offering entry to female hygiene merchandise has taken larger precedence, whereas supporting the correct illustration of ladies’s well being and donations to girls’s health-focused charities have seen slight drops. This exhibits us that whereas accuracy remains to be important, 37% need extra optimistic illustration, and there’s extra demand for sensible and monetary help. 

Not solely does this foster inclusion within the office, however supporting girls’s particular well being points needs to be thought of a necessity for retaining feminine expertise. Manufacturers can take inspiration from underwear model Modibodi that has provided paid go away for menstrual, menopause and miscarriage since 2021. 

5. Office well being advantages also needs to lengthen to childcare

Specializing in office advantages, limitations for childcare is a big barrier for girls to entry healthcare and is a key situation. Employer-provided daycare companies have decreased by 17% previously two years, and simply over 3 in 10 feminine enterprise professionals report that their employers supply paid maternity or paternity go away. Manufacturers must acknowledge present shortfalls in maternity and paternity advantages by selling gender equality in caregiving duties. Workplaces can differentiate themselves by investing in daycare services, selling work-life steadiness, providing paid parental go away and supporting the skilled progress of working moms – 49% of moms use childcare to permit them to attend work. 

Making girls’s well being a precedence

As we navigate the panorama of ladies’s well being, it’s essential to acknowledge the highly effective actions shaping subsequent yr. The traits outlined above paint a fancy image, reflecting each progress and challenges. 

Trying ahead to 2024, the worldwide dialog round girls’s well being is about to accentuate. Manufacturers should keep tuned in to the evolving wants of ladies worldwide, guaranteeing their efforts foster a future the place girls can confidently chart their path to optimum well being and wellbeing.