Gender relations and health research: a review of current practices

INTRODUCTION: The importance of gender in understanding health practices and illness experiences is increasingly recognized, and key to this work is a better understanding of the application of gender relations. The influence of masculinities and femininities, and the interplay within and between them manifests within relations and interactions among couples, family members and peers to influence health behaviours and outcomes. METHODS: To explore how conceptualizations of gender relations have been integrated in health research a scoping review of the existing literature was conducted. The key terms gender relations, gender interactions, relations gender, partner communication, femininities and masculinities were used to search online databases. RESULTS: Through analysis of this literature we identified two main ways gender relations were integrated in health research: a) as emergent findings; and b) as a basis for research design. In the latter, gender relations are included in conceptual frameworks, guide data collection and are used to direct data analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Current uses of gender relations are typically positioned within intimate heterosexual couples whereby single narratives (i.e., either men or women) are used to explore the influence and/or impact of intimate partner gender relations on health and illness issues. Recommendations for advancing gender relations and health research are discussed. This research has the potential to reduce gender inequities in health.