#10: The Role of Storytelling in Women’s Health (ft. Loredana Marta)

We discussed the role and impact of storytelling on women’s health and explored inequities that exist in this area. We also discussed health tech and the many persisting shortcomings that impact women’s health, treatment and lives. Loredana Marta pens a newsletter under the name Vulvarina about how sexism interferes with our lives in unseen ways, in areas ranging from medical care, to industrial design and social dynamics. Her storytelling is stats- and fact-based, letting her legal background shine through, jazzed up with approachable anecdotes of mundane London life. She spent the last two years in the startup scene, where along with her two cofounders, she built OPEN social, bringing genuine conversations back to social media by matching people based on their moods. Writer and tech gal/lady (?) is currently exploring female health and digitalisation, as well as a gender and ethnicity personalised approach to medical research and care.Click here to read and subscribe to Vulvarina. Loredana's hard hitting newsletter.Resources from this week's episode: 1. The leadership gap in healthcare: https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/perspectives/health/2019/jan/women-in-healthcare-make-80--of-purchasing-decisions--yet-13--of.html2. Female founders in the US Venture Capital ecosystem: https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/2022-all-in-female-founders-in-the-us-vc-ecosystem3. Health system tracker - health expenditures: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-expenditures-vary-across-population/#Average%20individual%20health%20spending,%202019%C2%A04. Discussion of the research and funding gap in women's health: https://medcitynews.com/2022/12/womens-health-is-suffering-due-to-lack-of-research-and-funding-experts-say/5. Commentary piece on the profitability of women's health - Why we're betting big on women's health6. Research Funding for Women's Health: A Modeling Study of Societal Impact: Findings for Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementia Model (Free to access)7. Medical textbooks: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081015132108.htm8. Time: 'Women Die From Heart Attacks More Often Than Men': https://time.com/5499872/women-heart-disease/9. Principles of Sex-based Differences in Physiology: https://www.sciencedirect.com/bookseries/advances-in-molecular-and-cell-biology/vol/34/suppl/C10. Guardian commentary on study: 'Women 32% more likely to die after operation by male surgeon' If you're not yet subscribed to the Global Health Conversations fortnightly newsletter, click here to check it outSupport the show