Healthy Living: Different Key Preventive Care Tactics for Men and Women
10 Minutes
Team Curative
Jun 11, 2024
Why should your wellness plan be as unique as you are? Our health journeys take slightly different paths because of many factors. One of the most important factors that must be taken into account is differences in biological sex. For example, biological women might have to navigate issues such as reproductive health or osteoporosis, while biological men might face challenges like prostate problems or heart disease. Understanding and addressing health concerns unique to your sex is key to crafting a wellness plan that's tailored just for you.
Before breaking down the differences in healthcare experiences people face based on their sex, let’s first clarify the difference between sex and gender. In this blog, we’ll be referring to health issues based on sex, which is a “multidimensional biological construct based on anatomy, physiology, genetics, and hormones”. Gender, instead, encompasses “gender identity and expression, as well as social and cultural expectations about status, characteristics, and behavior as they are associated with certain sex traits.” Gender can have its own health care, services and opportunities based on need.
Skilled healthcare providers incorporate an understanding of sex-based health concerns into preventive care. When you builda strong relationship with a primary care provider who understands your unique biology, family history, and lifestyle choices, you increase your understanding of the health concerns most likely to affect you.
Men seek care less often than women
June is Men’s Health Month. This month is designated to increase awareness of men’s health issues and how men can take charge of their health. Building this awareness is particularly important since men are significantly less likely than women to see a doctor or report symptoms to a health care provider. Among men, only 60 percent go to the doctor for a yearly, routine check-up; 40 percent won’t visit a provider until something is seriously wrong.
When men seek healthcare services, they are usually motivated by a physical complication or concern, and the time spent in medical consults is much shorter than women. These trends are more pronounced when it comes to men seeking mental healthcare. Despite a higher suicide rate among men than women, men hold more reluctance and negative attitudes toward engaging with mental health services, even at the point of crisis.
According to one physician, by putting off their regular exams, screenings, and other preventive care, “men may be in much worse condition by the time a disease is caught than they would have been if they had gone in early and regularly.” Establishing care with a primary care provider and developing a relationship of trust can help overcome the reluctance to seek care. Healthcare providers, families, and employers can also encourage men to seek the medical and mental healthcare they need.
Men’s health concerns
Men’s Health Month also builds awareness about the specific conditions for which men are at risk:
heart disease
cancer
injury
lung disease
stroke
diabetes
A variety of other health issues affect men in particular. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths for men in the US, and the risk increases substantially if other family members have been diagnosed. Erectile dysfunction affects nearly 30 million men of all ages across the US. This can be a warning sign of other conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar.
Men also experience mental health issues in high numbers: 31 percent of men suffer depression in their lifetime, and nine percent have daily experiences of depression or anxiety.
Women’s health concerns
On the other hand, women tend to drive healthcare decisions in the household. Women are more likely to schedule appointments and encourage their loved ones to seek healthcare. Unfortunately, this means that while taking care of others, women often ignore their own health needs.
Several health concerns, including menstrual cycles, pregnancy, birth, and menopause, affect only women. Others are more common in women than in men. Often, women experience different symptoms associated with common conditions than men and may require distinct treatment. The most prevalent health concerns among American women include
heart disease
breast cancer
reproductive health issues, including endometriosis, fibroids, cancers, and polycystic ovary syndrome
depression and anxiety
Other gynecological concerns impact women’s quality of life. These include menstrual disorders, pelvic pain, incontinence, and pelvic floor prolapse.
Women’s mental health symptoms show up differently than men’s, too: women experience depression at twice the rate of men, and women are twice as likely than men to develop an anxiety disorder.
Not all of these conditions are preventable. Lifestyle choices, such as a healthy diet and exercise, can lower one’s risk for many of these conditions. Avoiding lifestyle factors, including smoking and excessive alcohol use, also reduces risk.
Preventive measures for men and women
Healthcare providers recommend that men and women pursue primary care to manage long-term conditions. Preventive care increases the likelihood of early detection and, ideally, establishes a relationship of trust between provider and patient. In practice, primary care clinicians provide integrated, accessible healthcare services. These providers can address most personal healthcare needs, develop a sustained partnership with patients, and practice in the context of family and community.
Preventive primary care is correlated to a host of positive outcomes:
early detection of disease and other health conditions
treatment of acute conditions
chronic disease management
patients receive recommended screenings, including for blood pressure and cancer
patients receive recommended vaccinations.
ongoing medication management
Preventive care for men
Highly recommended preventive care screenings throughout a man’s life include:
Ages 20-30: Scheduling eye exams every two to four years and regular HIV tests
Age 35: Begining cholesterol screenings
Age 40: Screening for Type 2 diabetes
Ages 40-50: Talking to your doctor about menopause
Age 50: Scheduling colonoscopies every ten years and discussing prostate screenings with a doctor
Age 60: Scheduling hearing exams and screenings for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
Age 70: Receiving bone mineral density scans to check for osteoporosis
Preventive care for women
Highly recommended preventive care screenings throughout a woman’s life include:
Ages 11-12: Recieving the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination
Age 20: Begining annual visits with a gynecologist, including regular breast exams
Ages 21-29: Scheduling a Pap test every three years
Age 30: Begining annual HPV testing
Age 40: Scheduling annual mammograms and breast exams
Ages 45-50: Receiving routine colon cancer screenings
Age 65: Receiving bone mineral density scans to check for osteoporosis
Age 75: Determine with a doctor the need for continued mammograms and colon cancer screenings
Roadblocks to accessing preventive care
Though the advantages of preventive care are well-established, many people either do not or cannot pursue preventive care through a primary care provider. The complexity of the American healthcare system is a roadblock to many people seeking this form of high-quality care.
Traditional health plans can initiate a vicious cycle that ends with patients avoiding care. Many plans are unaffordable and overwhelmingly complex. Members often need help finding answers to their coverage questions. As a result, they defer care until their conditions become more complicated and costlier to cover. This produces adverse effects, including worse health outcomes and medical debt. When members are finally obligated to seek care, they experience health insurance only during a crisis. As a result, they become entirely disillusioned with the system and are conditioned to avoid care.
America’s expensive and overly complex health insurance system discourages people from seeking the preventive care that is proven to improve health outcomes for women and men.
Curative: A simple plan for preventive care
Unlike the complex healthcare plans that cause patients to defer care, Curative healthcare plans make it easy for you to access and receive preventive care. Your Curative healthcare journey begins with the Baseline Visit:
Meet your healthcare provider virtually from the comfort of your home.
A Curative Care Navigator will explain your benefits and connect you to resources.
You will have uninterrupted time with a clinician to discuss your health history and goals.
Your ongoing preventive care will allow your provider to identify undiagnosed and treatable diseases.
Your visit is confidential and never shared with your employer.
The Baseline Visit is 100% free!
Curative’s Care Navigators provide personalized, professional coverage guidance. Your Care Navigator ensures you make the most of your Curative plan and get the care you need, from urgent medical needs to preventive care. Care Navigators:
Connect you with the right provider when you need it.
Work with you to build preventive care strategies.
Guide you through paperwork, including pharmacy transfers
Provide trustworthy, continuous support.
By providing Care Navigators, Curative makes concierge medicine available to its customers. You receive the care you need for your specific health concerns and have expert guidance to help you access precisely the care you need. This includes mental healthcare: Curative plans provide access to free therapy, virtual therapy, and assistance in transferring and filling prescriptions. Curative also covers preventive health tests, like Galleri’s multi-cancer screening, empowering you and your practitioner to catch conditions and diseases early.
About Curative
When you’re covered by Curative, you receive personalized guidance throughout your healthcare journey. Curative coverage removes the burden of navigating the healthcare system and ensures that members receive the care they need and live their healthiest lives.
Curative wants people to love using their health benefits. Our health plan delivers better health through affordability, engagement, and simplicity. No copays. No deductibles. No...really. Curative is changing the way we view health insurance.
Visit Curative to learn more about preventive care personalized for your specific needs.
References
American Heart Association (2020). Prioritizing care for others, women often neglect their own health. https://www.goredforwomen.org/en/beyond-the-table/stories/women-often-neglect-their-own-health
Anxiety & Depression Association of America. (2024). Women and Anxiety. https://adaa.org/find-help-for/women/anxiety
Anxiety & Depression Association of America. (2024). Women and Depression.
https://adaa.org/find-help-for/women/depression
Campbell, Leah. (Sept 2019). Why So Many Men Avoid Going to the Doctor. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-so-many-men-avoid-doctors#Why-men-withhold-information-from-doctors
Harvard Health Publishing. (2024). Women’s Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/womens-health
Indiana University School of Medicine. (June 2023). Spirit of Medicine.
https://medicine.iu.edu/blogs/spirit-of-medicine/mens-health-month
Kwon, Minjoo, Sharon Lawn, and Christine Kaine. (Mar-Apr 2023). Understanding Men’s Engagement and Disengagement When Seeking Support for Mental Health. American Journal of Men’s Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9996733/
Mayo Clinic. (Oct 2023). Men’s Health. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-so-many-men-avoid-doctors#Why-men-withhold-information-from-doctors
Linder, J. (Jun 2020). Northwestern Medicine. Men’s Health Screenings at Every Age (Infographic). https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/mens-health-screening-infographic
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2024). Healthy People 2030. https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/access-primary-care
Vader, B. (Accesssed 2024). Johns Hopkins Medicine. Women’s Preventive Care Timeline: Infographic. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/womens-preventive-care-infographic
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