A Gender Approach to Health Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a health crisis with a strong social impact, largely derived from population confinement policies. Previous studies have highlighted the gender inequalities that pandemics generate. Objective. This research aims to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals with a gender perspective in aspects related to their work, family, and social spheres. Material and method. The study is descriptive exploratory, with a cross-sectional quantitative research methodology. The instrument for data collection is a structured questionnaire administered by email. A descriptive analysis of the main characteristics of the participants according to gender is performed. Results. The results of the study point to the existence of inequalities between health professionals, determined by gender, in reference to participation in decision-making, the different burden of care tasks, the impact on emotional aspects and perceptions about what supposes the pandemic for men and women. Conclusions. The role of women must be taken into account in the management of pandemics. Women should be especially involved in decision-making in healthcare to deal with the social and emotional consequences that affect health professionals, and which derive from the care burden and the lack of co-responsibility in the provision of care.