EWHNET European Women's Health Network Women`s Health Network: State of Affairs, Concepts, Approaches, Organizations in the Women’s Health Movement Country Report Finland February 2000 EWHNET is a project in the Medium-Term Community Action Programme on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (1996-2000) and is financed by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Author: Dr. Ansa Ojanlatva Dept. of Public Health University of Turku 20520 Turku 52 Finland Liaison Person: Dr. Kaisa Kauppinen Institute for Occupational Health Topeliuksenkatu 41 a 00250 Helsinki Finland Project Manager: Dr. Vera Lasch, IFG Where to order: Ute Sonntag Landesvereinigung für Gesundheit Niedersachsen e.V. Fenskeweg 2 30165 Hannover Germany Phone: 0049 511 3500052 Fax: 0049 511 3505595 e-mail: [email protected] Copyright: No portion of the contents may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author of this issue. All rights reserved. The following text reflects the author’s views. The commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in that publication. 1. edition, June 1999 2. edition, Hanover, February 2000 Contents: 1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................5 1.1 Population background........................................................................................................6 1.2 History of health care..........................................................................................................7 1.3 Structure of health care .......................................................................................................7 1.4 National health insurance .................................................................................................. 10 1.5 Alternative care/self-care .................................................................................................. 10 2. Occupational health-related issues..................................................................................... 12 2.1 Occupational issues........................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1 Educational issues......................................................................................................... 12 2.1.2 Nature of work among women ...................................................................................... 12 2.1.3 Age discrimination........................................................................................................ 13 2.1.4 Burnout at work ............................................................................................................ 14 2.1.5 Health effects................................................................................................................ 14 2.2 Occupational health organizations..................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Ministry of Labor.......................................................................................................... 16 2.2.2 Finnish Institute of Occupational Health........................................................................ 16 2.2.3 Center for Occupational Safety...................................................................................... 16 2.2.4 The Finnish Work Environment Fund ........................................................................... 16 2.3 Occupational health services ............................................................................................. 16 2.4 Occupational health law.................................................................................................... 17 3. Women's reproductive and maternal health care ............................................................. 18 3.1 Maternal health care.......................................................................................................... 18 3.2 Childbirth.......................................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Prenatal screening ............................................................................................................. 20 3.4 Contraception.................................................................................................................... 20 3.5 Hysterectomy.................................................................................................................... 21 3.6 Ovarian cancer.................................................................................................................. 21 3.7 Sexually transmitted diseases ............................................................................................ 22 3.7.1 Maternal HIV Screening................................................................................................ 22 3.8 Human Papillomavirus (HPV)........................................................................................... 23 4. Health education................................................................................................................. 24 4.1 Health policies .................................................................................................................. 24 4.2 Forms of health education ................................................................................................. 24 4.2.1 School health education................................................................................................. 24 4.2.2 Physical activity/health psychology............................................................................... 25 4.2.3 Clinical health education ............................................................................................... 25 4.2.4 The health care laws are skeleton laws .......................................................................... 25 5. Health of elderly finnish women......................................................................................... 27 5.1 Demographic data............................................................................................................. 27 5.2 Marital status, family and children .................................................................................... 27 5.3 Social contacts .................................................................................................................. 27 5.4 Living conditions .............................................................................................................. 28 5.5 Health issues, sexuality and marital satisfaction ................................................................ 28 5.5.1 Physical health behaviors .............................................................................................. 29 5.5.2 Positive emotional health .............................................................................................. 30 5.5.3 Oral health .................................................................................................................... 30 5.5.4 Sexual behavior............................................................................................................. 31 5.5.5 Marital satisfaction........................................................................................................ 31 5.6 Medical conditions............................................................................................................ 32 5.6.1 Heart disease................................................................................................................. 32 5.6.2 Depression .................................................................................................................... 33 5.6.3 Dementia....................................................................................................................... 33 5.7 Violence and injuries ........................................................................................................ 33 5.8 Medications ...................................................................................................................... 34 5.9 Mortality........................................................................................................................... 34 5.9.1 Use of social and health care services............................................................................ 34 6. Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 36 7. References ........................................................................................................................... 37 8. PART II............................................................................................................................... 46 8.1 Networks .......................................................................................................................... 46 8.2 WWW-home pages........................................................................................................... 46 1. Introduction Women's health care has developed in an evolutionary manner in Finland. "Gender neutral", "gender avoidance", "gender-blind", "gender bias", "gender-specific", "gender difference" and "gender-sensitive" are terms to be clarified as they either appear or otherwise have meaning in this context. Gender is understood as consisting