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Wiki Article Final Draft

Poverty is another factor that facilitates the continual existence of gender disparities in health. Poverty is often directly linked with poor health. However, indirectly it affects factors such as lack of education, resources, and transportation that have the potential to contribute to poor health. In addition to economic constraints, there are also cultural constraints that affect people’s ability or likelihood to enter a medical setting. While gender disparities continue prevalent in health, the extent to which it occurs within poor communities often depends on factors like the socioeconomic state of their location, cultural differences and even age.

Children living in poverty have limited access to basic health needs overall, however gender inequalities become more apparent as children age. Research done on children under the age of five suggests that in low to middle income countries, approximately 50% of children living in poverty had access to basic health care. There was also no significant difference between boys and girls in access to healthcare services, such as immunizations and treatment for prevalent diseases such as malaria for both. Research focused on a wider age range, from infancy to adolescence, showed different results. It was found that in developing countries girls had more limited access to care, and if accessed they were likely to receive inferior care to that of boys. Girls in developing countries were also found to be more likely to suffer emotional and physical abuse inflicted by their family and community.

Gender inequalities in health for those living in poverty continue into adulthood. In research that excluded women’s health disadvantages (childbirth, pregnancy, susceptibility to HIV, etc.) it was found that there was not a significant gender difference in diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions. In fact, women were diagnosed more, which was attributed to the fact that women had more access to healthcare due to reproductive needs, or from taking their children in for checkups. By contrast, research that was inclusive of women’s health disadvantages revealed that maternal health widened the gap between men and women’s health. Poor women in underdeveloped countries were said to be at greater risk of disability and death. The lack of resources and proper nourishment is often a cause of death, and contributes to issues of preterm birth and infant mortality, as well as a contributor to maternal mortality. It is estimated that about 800 women die daily from maternal mortality, and most cases are preventable. However, 99% of the cases occur in poverty ridden regions that lack the resources to access prompt, as well as preventive medical care.

The gendered health differences were slightly different for people living in poverty in wealthier countries. Women were reported to be more low-income than men, and more likely to forgo medical treatment due to financial circumstances. In the United States the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) made it more possible for more people living in poverty to have access to healthcare, especially for women, however it is argued that the Act also promotes gender inequality because of differences in coverage. Gender- specific cancer screenings, such as for prostate cancer is not covered for men, while similar screenings for women are. At the same time, screenings such as counseling and other services for intimate partner violence is covered for women and not for men. In European countries the results were different than those of people in the United States. While in the United States poor men had less quality healthcare than women, in European countries men had less access to healthcare. The studies revealed that people, of age 50 and over, who struggled to make ends meet (subjective poverty) were 38% more likely to decline in health than those who were considered low income or had low overall wealth. However, men with subjective poverty of the same age group were 65% more likely to die than women, within a 3 to 6 year period.

Wiki Article Draft

Original Article Section: "Poverty is another factor that facilitates the continual existence of gender disparities in health. Poverty often works in tandem with various cultural norms to indirectly impact women's health. While many communities and households are not opposed to helping women attain better health through education, better nutrition, and financial stability, poverty often act as a form of barrier against gender equity in health for women. Oftentimes, due to financial constraints and limited capital, only a select few are able to receive opportunities, like education and employment, that might help them attain better health outcomes. However, cultural norms would often prioritized men in receiving these opportunities. This prioritization of males stems from the societal perception that the potential returns to both the household and the community is higher for men than women."

Poverty is another factor that facilitates the continual existence of gender disparities in health.[2] Poverty is often directly linked with poor health (Adena). However, indirectly it affects factors such as lack of education, resources, and transportation that have the potential to contribute to poor health (Adena). In addition to economic constraints, there are also cultural constraints that affect people’s ability or likelihood to enter a medical setting. While gender disparities continue prevalent in health, the extent to which it occurs within poor communities often depends on factors like the socioeconomic state of their location, cultural differences and even age.

Children living in poverty have very limited access to basic health needs. Research suggest that in low to middle income countries, approximately 50% of children had access to basic health care, and that there was no significant difference in access to healthcare services, such as immunizations and treatment for prevalent diseases such as malaria for boys and girls (Wagner). One of the factors that have been linked to good health is the access to education, which is often hindered by poverty and gender discrimination (Cesario). Research focused on developing countries found that girls had more limited access to care, and if accessed they were likely to receive inferior care to that of boys (Cesario). Girls in developing countries were also found to be more likely to suffer emotional and physical abuse inflicted by their family and community (Cesario).

Poor women in underdeveloped countries are said to be at greater risk of disability and death (Cesario). The lack of resources and proper nourishment is often a cause of death, and contributes to issues of preterm birth and infant mortality (Tyer-Viola), as well as a contributor to maternal mortality (Nour). While there are significant gender difference in access to health for general care, in low income countries diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions, while low in general, do not show significant gender differences in access (Wagner). In fact, women were diagnosed more, which was attributed to the fact that women had more access to healthcare due to reproductive needs, or from taking their children in for checkups (Wagner).

The gendered health differences were slightly different in wealthier countries. Women were reported to be more low-income than men, and more likely to forgo medical treatment due to financial circumstances (Veith). In the United States the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) made it more possible for more people living in poverty to have access to healthcare, especially for women, however it is argued that it also promotes gender inequality (Veith). Gender- specific cancer screenings, such as for prostate cancer is not covered for men, while similar screenings for women are (Veith). At the same time, screenings such as counseling and other services for intimate partner violence is covered for women and not for men (Veith). Men also showed less access to health in studies done in Europe. The studies showed that people, of age 50 and over, who struggled to make ends meet (subjective poverty) were 38% more likely than those who were considered poor for low income or low overall wealth (Adena). However, men with subjective poverty of the same age group were 65% more likely to die than women within a 3 to 6 year period (Adena).

References:

Adena, Maja, and Michal Myck. “Poverty and Transitions in Health in Later Life.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 116, 2014, pp. 202–210., doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.045.

Cesario, S., & Moran, B. (2017). Empowering the Girl Child, Improving Global Health. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing : JOGNN, 46(3), E65-e74.

Nour, Nawal M. "Global women's health: progress toward reducing sex-based health disparities." Clinical Chemistry, vol. 60, no. 1, 2014, p. 147+. Health Reference Center Academic, http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/apps/doc/A398074178/HRCA?u=san96005&sid=HRCA&xid=3c3f744e.

Tyer‐Viola, L. A. and Cesario, S. K. (2010), Addressing Poverty, Education, and Gender Equality to Improve the Health of Women Worldwide. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 39: 580-589. doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.2010.01165.x

Veith, Megan. “The Continuing Gender-Health Divide: A Discussion of Free Choice, Gender Discrimination, and Gender Theory as Applied to the Affordable Care Act.” Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law &Amp; Policy, vol. 21, 2014, pp. 341–401.

Wagner, Anita K, et al. “Need for and Access to Health Care and Medicines: Are There Gender Inequities?” PloS One, vol. 8, no. 3, 2013, p. e57228.

Bibliography

Adena, Maja, and Michal Myck. “Poverty and Transitions in Health in Later Life.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 116, 2014, pp. 202–210., doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.045.

The source is a study that was conducted on European people older than 50 years, both men and women. The focus of it is how poverty influences poor health, as well as how it might reduce the chances of recovery from poor health. I plan to use this source to add a paragraph to the poverty section that focuses on the difference in health experience of older men and women.

Wagner, Anita K, et al. “Need for and Access to Health Care and Medicines: Are There Gender Inequities?” PloS One, vol. 8, no. 3, 2013, p. e57228.

This source is a study on the difference access to healthcare and medicine between men and women using World Heath Survey data. The data includes information about differences in healthcare and income, as well as access to healthcare for general medicine as well as for chronic illness, and the differences in access to healthcare for both men and women. The article is very broad, for this reason I plan to use it as a starting point for my research.

Megan Veith. “The Continuing Gender-Health Divide: A Discussion of Free Choice, Gender Discrimination, and Gender Theory as Applied to the Affordable Care Act.” Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law &Amp; Policy, vol. 21, 2014, pp. 341–401.

This source focuses specifically on the affordable care act and how it impacts gender inequality/equality. The article seems to focus on issues involving both men and women, it also includes information on the effects on different races, as well as on poverty. I'm planning to use this article for a paragraph that focuses on health and poverty in "first world" countries.

Select an Article to Create or Develop: "Gender disparities in health"

The article that I plan to develop is "Gender disparities in health", it is an article that is not fully developed, it has good title sections but is not very thorough. The article has a large focus on the negative experience of women with healthcare and very little on the experience of men or those of other gender groups, which give it a pro feminist bias. My plan is to develop the "Poverty" section of the article by adding information about both men and women living in poverty and how that affects their health in different ways. For instance, their access to healthcare, which includes what the government provides, physical access to healthcare facilities (transportation/rural areas), and ability to take time off work for health needs. I would also like to add to the section on "Female Mortality" and focus on the topic of maternal mortality.

"Women and the Environment" Add to an Article

The article "Women and the Environment" contains a significant number of "factual" statements that have not been properly supported by reliable sources, or in some case no sources. For the "Add to an Article" assignment I edited the sentence, "The government has recognized that women [and children] are the most affected by climate change and environmental degradation." found under the "Sweden" section under the "In developed nations" section. The statement above had no citation attached to it, I added a citation with a new source, and removed "and children" from the sentence. The new source is a peer reviewed article on the subject of climate change and its effects based on gender, “Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts, and Adaptation: Why Does Gender Matter?” by Fatma Denton.

The statement that was edited is relevant to the section written and supports some arguments and even other facts stated within the same section, however, left without a citation it could not be trusted to be reliable information. For this reason I added a citation for the new source which states that the degradation of the environment does in fact put women in a more vulnerable position. I could not find a proper and accessible source that stated that both women and children were vulnerable to climate changes, also the main focus of that section was focused on the experience of women, which is why I removed the phrase "and children" from the statement.

“Women and the Environment” Evaluation

Wikipedia provides a platform for a fountain of knowledge from many different contributors, which leads to a more broad encyclopedia but at the same time can lead to less revision of articles and consequently content that is not ideal to present. The Wikipedia article “Women and the Environment” is one that can be evaluated for the quality of its content, the organization of its content, the use of reliable sources, as well as the point of view with which information is presented. In order to be considered a reliable source of information, the content must come from reliable sources, it must contribute to the topic and should not be biased. The article should also be organized in a way that makes it easy for the reader to navigate. This article is lacking in many of the criteria mentioned above, specifically when it comes to the quality of the content and the overall organization, and should be edited further.

The first part of the article that should be fixed is the overall organization of it. The way that information is presented make some of the topics presented not completely relevant to the main topic. The topic of women and the environment is very broad and should probably be named differently since the largest topic covered is the effect of certain gendered environmental issues and how they affect women. Subtopics such as “Women environmentalists” could be taken out and made into a different article entirely and possibly featured in the “see also” section of the article. The same could be done with the “Ecological movements initiated by women section”, or it could be better incorporated into the article instead of simply listing the different events.

When it comes to organization of sections or individual paragraphs the article could also be improved. For example, the very first paragraph which is supposed to be the overview of the article does not present a clear thesis, nor a clear “map” to follow that lets the reader know what the article will cover. Within the body of the article there are some sections that suffer from the same issue. The purpose of some of the information presented is not completely clear and difficult to understand. Also, the flow between paragraphs is also affected by lack of proper transitions from paragraph to paragraph. Such is seen in the “Women, environment and development (WED) debate” section.

Though organizing the article for an easier read is significant, the content of this article is what needs the most work. There are problems with bias, with some of the statements or arguments presented, as well as with the use of unreliable sources. Most of what is written throughout the article seems to be biased in favor of women. Though the article itself is about women the article seems to be focused on victimizing women, which though true in many cases, it is not supported by evidence in the article. This can be seen in the first paragraph of the article where it is implied that the impact of women on the environment is not accounted for. Also, there are many statements that are more opinion than fact. For instance, the author seems to claim that making women managers of farms is the solution to certain farming problems, while this could be true it is not properly cited. Also, the earlier statement is followed by flawed reasoning stating that women are the solution because they have more specific knowledge about crops (number 4 under “Efficiency” under “Theoretical perspectives” section).

Throughout the article there are also sections in which the use of quotes of outside sources is not properly used. Generally quotes are used to support arguments or to add the weight of evidence to a certain statement. In this article however, the use of quotes seems to not fulfill those purposes, and in the article after a quote has been used it is simply summarized. The example of this can be seen in the “Land ownership and property management” section, where the quote used adds no significant value to the statement being made, given that it is paraphrased in the sentence that follows. There are also sections where there are multiple sections of a quote used in one sentence, where it would be better to use paraphrasing to introduce the idea; this can be found in the first paragraph of the “Women’s connection with the environment” section. Finally, since it relates to the use of direct quotes, there is a quote that is not complete in the “Farming and agriculture” section, there is no end quotation and there is not a proper citation.

Some of the sources used in the article are also questionable. There are articles listed in the bibliography that cannot be accessed through the links provided, which makes it difficult to find out whether it is a reliable source. There are also internet sites that are used as sources, some of which are not .edu or .gov sources, and therefore are likely to be unreliable. There are also articles used that do not show whether they have been peer reviewed and therefore could also be unreliable sources. The article also uses a large amount of sources from the 1990’s, and though that is not a great amount of time difference it could lower the relevance of those sources depending on the topic.

Overall, the article needs a lot of work. It is difficult to write an article that is unbiased, especially about a topic that one is passionate about. However, by introducing bias, as an author to a public source of information one can hinder the ability of the reader to understand the topic on hand. This article needs to be revised in terms of content, especially those statements and arguments that express bias. The sources used also need to be evaluated to make sure that they are reliable and valid. Finally, certain sections of the article should be taken out, and others more relevant to the topic in hand should be enhanced.