Canadian Women's Health Network (CWHN)

Discusses an array of sexual health issues facing older women and looks at the false assumptions society makes about older women’s sexual lives.

Discusses the controversies about the guideline on screening for breast cancer for average-risk women (aged 40 to 79) that was updated in late 2011 by The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. Explains the issues and summarizes the evidence and current thinking about breast self-examination.

Review of the film Programmed to be Fat, directed by Bruce Mohun, written by Bruce Mohun and Helen Slinger, and produced by Sue Ridout, Helen Slinger and Sara Darling for Dreamfilm Productions in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.This documentary examines emerging evidence that chemicals in our environment infiltrate pregnant women’s bodies and “program” their babies to be fat or obese as adults. The film aired on CBC Television’s The Nature of Things on January 12, 2012.

Review of the book I Feel Great About My Hands: And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging by Shari Graydon, Douglas & McIntyre Press, 2011. 

Breast cancer prevention project of the CWHN. Includes five postcards for public distribution. Aims to promote awareness of the need for researchers and policy-makers to focus on the causes of breast cancer. Examines the origin of the breast cancer ribbon campaign with its focus on preventable causes, and how the goals of breast cancer campaigns have focussed most of their resources on treatment and cure. Includes downloadable PDF’s of the five postcards, as well as five web pages where readers can learn more about the preventable causes of breast cancer, and link to the organizations that are looking at this issue.

Three presentations on the IGH's peer-reviewed casebook that presents a range of research-based accounts that illustrate how attending to gender and sex in health research contributes to advancing knowledge, strengthening science and improving knowledge translation. Written from a critically reflective vantage point, chapters share health researchers' experiences in how they came to understand and engage gender and sex in their work. This collection demonstrates that there is much to be gained from the routine integration of gender and sex across the health research spectrum.
Presenting authors:
Adrianna Mendrek (presentation in English): Sex and gender differences in mental health research
Karen Messing (presentation in French): Work exposures and musculoskeletal disorders: how the treatment of gender and sex in population-based surveys can affect detection of exposure-effect relationships
John Oliffe (presentation in English): Mobilizing masculinity to support fathers who want to be smoke free

This issue of Network focuses on why and how gender matters in mental health in Canada—a high priority for the Canadian Women’s Health Network and the Centres of Excellence for Women’s Health.

Presenter Sharyle Patton explores the uses of biomonitoring – the testing of one’s body for chemical exposure – and looks at how the experience of knowing one's body burden (the total amount of chemicals present in the human body at any given time) can help inform personal choice and political engagement. While the findings from biomonitoring may be devastating to some on an individual level, Patton suggests that if the information is used with sensitivity and respect for tradition, it can be quite powerful in helping groups work for change in toxic chemical policy. A storyteller, Patton illustrates her message with the experiences of women she has encountered through her work.

The Network speaks with health advocate Shirley Tagalik about why her northern town is fighting to bring maternity care back to their community.

In January 2011, Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence (PWHCE) hosted two events to celebrate and share women’s health research in Saskatchewan. The proceedings began with an evening Café Scientifique on “Gender and Women’s Health Matters” at Saskatoon’s McNally Robinson bookstore, on Thursday,  Jan. 20. This was followed by a Gender Matters Workshop, on Friday, Jan. 21 at the University of Saskatchewan.