Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021;29(3):2105284.
doi: 10.1080/26410397.2022.2105284.

Law, human rights and gender in practice: an analysis of lessons from implementation of self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health

Laura Ferguson  1 , Manjulaa Narasimhan  2 , Jose Gutierrez  3 , William Jardell  4 , Sofia Gruskin  5
Affiliations

Law, human rights and gender in practice: an analysis of lessons from implementation of self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health

Laura Ferguson et al. Sex Reprod Health Matters. 2021.

Abstract
in English, French, Spanish

Self-care interventions for health are becoming increasingly available, and among the preferred options, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research assessed the extent of attention to laws and policies, human rights and gender in the implementation of self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health (SRH), to identify where additional efforts to ensure an enabling environment for their use and uptake will be useful. A literature review of relevant studies published between 2010 and 2020 was conducted using PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Relevant data were systematically abstracted from 61 articles. In March-April 2021, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 key informants, selected for their experience implementing self-care interventions for SRH, and thematically analysed. Laws and policies, rights and gender are not being systematically addressed in the implementation of self-care interventions for SRH. Within countries, there is varied attention to the enabling environment including the acceptability of interventions, privacy, informed consent and gender concerns as they impact both access and use of specific self-care interventions, while other legal considerations appear to have been under-prioritised. Operational guidance is needed to develop and implement supportive laws and policies, as well as to ensure the incorporation of rights and gender concerns in implementing self-care interventions for SRH.

Les interventions d’auto-prise en charge deviennent de plus en plus largement disponibles et comptent parmi les options préférées, notamment pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. Cette recherche a évalué le degré d’attention accordée aux lois et politiques, aux droits de l’homme et au genre dans la mise en œuvre des interventions d’auto-prise en charge pour la santé sexuelle et reproductive (SSR), afin d’identifier les points où des efforts supplémentaires seront utiles pour assurer un environnement habilitant pour leur utilisation. Un examen des études pertinentes publiées depuis 2010 a été mené à l’aide de PubMed, Scopus et Web of Science entre 2010-2020. Les données intéressantes de 61 articles ont été résumées de manière systématique entre Mars-Avril 2021. Des entretiens semi-structurés ont été réalisés avec dix informateurs clés, choisis pour leur expérience dans la mise en œuvre d’interventions d’auto-prise en charge pour la SSR, et analysés de manière thématique. Les lois et les politiques, les droits et le genre ne sont pas abordés systématiquement dans la mise en œuvre des interventions d’auto-prise en charge pour la SSR. Les pays accordent une attention différente à l’environnement juridique, notamment l’acceptabilité des interventions, le respect de la vie privée, le consentement éclairé et les préoccupations de genre dans la mesure où ces questions influent aussi bien sur l’accès que l’utilisation des interventions spécifiques d’auto-prise en charge, alors que d’autres considérations juridiques semblent avoir été sous-priorisées. Des recommandations opérationnelles sont nécessaires pour élaborer et appliquer des lois et politiques favorables, ainsi que pour garantir l’inclusion des droits et des préoccupations de genre dans la mise en œuvre des interventions d’auto-prise en charge pour la SSR.

Las intervenciones de autocuidado de la salud están cada vez más disponibles y figuran entre las opciones preferidas, incluso durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Esta investigación evaluó el grado de atención a leyes y políticas, derechos humanos y género en la aplicación de intervenciones de autocuidado de la salud sexual y reproductiva (SSR), para identificar dónde serán útiles esfuerzos adicionales por garantizar un entorno favorable para su uso y aceptación. Se realizó una revisión de la literatura sobre estudios pertinentes publicados desde 2010, utilizando PubMed, Scopus y Web of Science entre 2019 y 2020. Los datos pertinentes fueron extraídos sistemáticamente de 61 artículos entre marzo y abril de 2021 Se realizaron y analizaron temáticamente entrevistas semiestructuradas con diez informantes clave, seleccionados por su experiencia aplicando intervenciones de autocuidado de la SSR. Las leyes y políticas y los derechos y el género no se están tratando sistemáticamente en la aplicación de intervenciones de autocuidado de la SSR. En cada país varía la atención prestada al entorno legislativo, que incluye la aceptabilidad de las intervenciones, privacidad, consentimiento informado y preocupaciones relativas al género, ya que estos afectan tanto la accesibilidad como el uso de intervenciones de autocuidado específicas, mientras que otras consideraciones jurídicas parecen haber sido subpriorizadas. Se necesita orientación operativa para formular y aplicar leyes y políticas solidarias, así como para garantizar la incorporación de las preocupaciones relativas a los derechos y al género en la aplicación de intervenciones de autocuidado de la SSR.

Keywords: gender; human rights; law and policy; reproductive health; self-care; sexual health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The named authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication and do not necessarily represent the decisions or the policies of the World Health Organization (WHO) or the UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP). All authors had full access to all of the data in the study and can take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Conceptual framework for self-care interventions
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Literature review process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Perera N, Agboola S.. Are formal self-care interventions for healthy people effective? A systematic review of the evidence. BMJ Global Health. 2019;4:e001415. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Riegel B, Dunbar SB, Fitzsimons D, et al. . Self-care research: where are we now? Where are we going? Int J Nurs Stud. 2021;116:103402. - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO . Maintaining essential health services. 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-essential-health-s...
    1. WHO . Self-care interventions for health. 2021a. Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/self-care#tab = tab_1
    1. WHO . Self-care health interventions. 2021c. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/self-care-health-interv...

LinkOut - more resources