Investing in Equity: Health care for all members

October 24, 2023 – Defence Stories

Health, both mental and physical, can be affected by many factors beyond one’s control: age, ethnicity, sex, gender, and life experiences, as well as the inherent biases that sometimes exist within our North American medical systems.

In a tragic example of this, while women and men suffer heart attacks at similar rates, women are more likely to die as a result. The reasons are complicated but do, in part, stem from medical research that has historically failed to include women and diverse populations as study participants.

Think back to your own First Aid training: the symptoms you best associate with a Heart Attack (left arm pain, painful chest) describe those most often suffered by men – and not the nausea and jaw pain women frequently encounter. Apply this knowledge gap on a broad scale, and it's easy to imagine the preventable injuries and fatalities piling up.

Fortunately, we are in an era of change. The Canadian Armed Forces Surgeon General has prioritized addressing these disparities in health care by creating the Directorate of Women’s and Diversity Health (D WDH). Led by Colonel Helen Wright, MD, the team is focused on improving the health care offered to our servicewomen and members with diverse identity factors.

Education and engagement with members, supervisors and clinicians are critical for addressing medical conditions and procedures that particularly affect diverse populations. Some initiatives by D WDH include:

• Updated medical guidance for osteoporosis, obesity, and pain management during IUD insertion;
• The creation of a Servicewomen’s Health Handbook; and
• Bringing awareness to women’s health issues during specific awareness periods like October’s World Menopause Month.

Even though we estimate that 32% of CAF servicewomen are currently experiencing their menopause transition – a time marked by a multitude of symptoms and challenges- menopause remains a widely un-talked-about and under-treated wellness issue. D WDH has created educational videos that can be found on the CFHS webpage or the D WDH new internal website: Women’s and Diversity Health.

D WDH is also developing strong relationships with Defence Research and Development Canada, Veterans Affairs, and civilian research institutions to close the substantial knowledge gap that persists for military sub-populations. Future research studies will focus on injury management, reproductive issues, and mental health and wellness within the military context.

By creating a national CAF cancer screening program, as well as hiring additional Nurse Practitioners and Clerks for each CAF Health Services Clinic, D WDH’s efforts will benefit all members of the CAF. This is a critical concept, as diversity and equity in the CF Health Services is about ensuring all members – from all backgrounds, genders, and beliefs – are represented in our CAF health care, ultimately resulting in better outcomes for each of us.