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 Area Telescope (which was many years within the planning), for the Nationwide Institutes of Well being to ascertain 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 direction of ladies’s well being, together with influential coverage change, however as we head in direction of 2024, ladies proceed to voice mistreatment or misdiagnosis, exhibiting there’s nonetheless a mountain to climb. 

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

The present state of play 

Earlier than we get into the ladies’s well being tendencies 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 girls’s well being.

Within the US, ladies’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 ladies. These teams typically face disproportionate challenges with points comparable to maternity care.

1. Ladies want to female-centric well being manufacturers

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check-ups to particular look after menopause and fertility – offering a a lot wanted breath of contemporary air to an outdated system.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

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

Past particular well being considerations, ladies are shifting demand in direction of a rise in total wellbeing. This shift lays the groundwork for a deeper exploration of how one can deal with ladies’s well being.

Total we’ve seen preferences rising for nutritional vitamins, pure medicines, and different remedies. The variety of ladies 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 ladies within the US take dietary supplements for digestive well being, and we’ve seen a 21% improve in ladies taking probiotics to deal with digestive issues because the finish of 2020. But it surely’s not solely sure remedies or medicines the place we’ve seen development, curiosity in diversified consuming habits has additionally grown. 

As research proceed to seek out hyperlinks between ladies’s well being points like PCOS and the intestine microbiome, embracing these tendencies may additionally have further advantages. In 2024, adopting a larger give attention to elements and available data on the dietary advantages of merchandise steers manufacturers in direction of the accountable training of girls’s well being, giving ladies 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 ladies’s well being is significant for the worldwide economic system sign that in 2024, manufacturers have to not solely give attention to their merchandise, however they should make the well being of their feminine staff a precedence. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Making ladies’s well being a precedence

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

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