tailieunhanh - The welfare state as a determinant of women’s health: support for women’s quality of life in Canada and four comparison nations

Martha1 is a caregiver with Likii HIV a home based care group in the Nanyuki region. She is a widow and her husband passed away in 2000, leaving her with three children. After the death of her husband, Martha became very sick and was taken to hospital where she tested positive and was put on treatment. In 2002, Martha ran away from her marital home because of stigma and discrimination, she took her children to her maternal home. Life was very difficult for her as she lived on the streets, and got her. | Available online at Health Policy 68 2004 63-79 IheaIth policy ELSEVIER locate healthpol The welfare state as a determinant of women s health support for women s quality of life in Canada and four comparison nations Dennis Raphaela Toba Bryantb a School of Health Policy and Management Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies York University 4700 Keele Street Toronto Ont. Canada M3J1P3 b York Center for Health Studies York University 4700 Keele Street Toronto Ont. Canada M3J1P3 Accepted 28 August 2003 Abstract The case is made that characteristics associated with the advanced welfare state in industrialised nations are primary contributors to women s quality of life. This is so since women s health and well-being are particularly sensitive to decisions made in relation to the spending priorities of governments the extent to which services are provided and the degree to which women are supported in moves towards equity. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development United Nations Human Development Program and other sources are used to examine these influences upon quality of life of women in Canada as compared to that of women in Denmark Sweden the UK and the US. A consistent pattern was seen by which national features impacting on women s quality of life are more likely to be seen in nations with a social welfare orientation as compared to nations with market approaches to policy development. 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords Welfare state Population health Women s quality of life 1. Overview Quality of life is a holistic construct that views human health and well-being within the contexts of proximal and distal environments 1 . It combines elements of broad societal indicators with the actual lived experience of people 2 . Emphasis is increasingly being placed on considering quality of life in particular relation to national and local policy environments 3 . Davies et .