Your Voice Matters: Take the Women’s Health Survey
Healthcare works best when it reflects the experiences of everyone it aims to help. That’s why we’re supporting an important initiative to better understand women’s health and improve representation in clinical research.
Dr. Olivia Wickens, Associate Medical Director at Panthera, highlights a challenge that continues to impact healthcare today:
“Women make up around 51% of the UK population, yet they remain underrepresented in many areas of clinical research. As a result, we still have significant gaps in our understanding of how diseases, treatments, and medicines affect women throughout different stages of life.”
Women’s bodies can respond differently to illness and treatment due to factors such as hormones, metabolism, and immune function. For example, a treatment that works effectively before menopause may not have the same effect afterwards.
Historically, many treatments have been developed using evidence gathered predominantly from male participants. This has contributed to what is often referred to as the gender data gap; a lack of information about how health conditions and treatments specifically affect women.
The impact can be significant, contributing to delayed diagnoses, less effective treatments, and an increased risk of side effects.
It’s not just about increasing participation. Research findings must also be analysed in ways that recognise important differences between men and women, ensuring that healthcare decisions are based on evidence that reflects everyone.
One example comes from a cardiovascular study conducted at Panthera. Of the 310 participants enrolled, 83% were male and only 17% were female. Cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, yet women often experience poorer outcomes following major cardiac events despite generally having a lower incidence of disease than men.
Your Experience Can Make a Difference
We’re proud to be partnering with North West eHealth to ensure women’s voices are heard and represented in future health research.
By taking part in our anonymous survey, which takes less than five minutes to complete, you’ll help us gain valuable insights into women’s experiences, perspectives, and attitudes towards health research.
The information collected will contribute to the development of a national Women’s Health Research Registry, helping researchers design more inclusive studies and generate stronger evidence from the very beginning of the research process.
Every response helps us move towards:
- Better representation of women in research
- Greater understanding of women’s health needs
- More effective treatments and healthcare interventions
- Fairer and more equitable healthcare outcomes
Together, we can help close the gender data gap and create a future where healthcare research truly reflects the women it serves.
