Increasing Gender Awareness to Reduce Harm in Health Care

Abstract

In this guest editorial, the author first discusses how gender is a historical and biopsychosocial construct. This means that there are many aspects of gender besides identity, such as gender expressions, roles and experiences. They address how this issue highlights some of these aspects but that these are not exhaustive, given the topic. They highlight how being able to consider our own gender identities, roles, expressions and experiences is an essential starting point if we are to be competent health-care providers. Finally, they suggest that stories might be one way to learn about aspects of gender we may not be as familiar with, as they allow us to connect emotionally, not just cognitively, with these aspects.