While our profession has been female-dominated for most, if not all, of its history, leadership positions are disproportionately occupied by men. In addition, there are significant gender inequities with regard to the global unmet needs of rehabilitation. Women accounted for just over half of the 2.4 billion people worldwide living with conditions that would benefit from rehabilitation services according to data from the Global Burden of Disease Study conducted in 2019. So, why aren’t we talking more about gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) within rehabilitation? Today’s guests are here to help us do just that.

Dr. Rosemary Morgan is an Associate Scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of International Health, with a joint position in the School of Nursing. Her research focuses on the role of gender inequities on health, wellbeing, and public health interventions.

Dr. Linda Thumba has her doctorate in Physical Therapy from Emory University and recently completed her Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She is currently working as an Institutional Support Contractor at USAID.

Resources:

– Dr. Rosemary Morgan Profile at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

– Linda Thumba’s Linked In Profile

– USAID: Rehabilitation Through a Gender Lens

– Cieza A et al. 2020. Global estimates of the need for rehabilitation based on the Global Burden of Disease study 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet, Volume 396, Issue 10267, 2006 – 2017. DOI: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32340-0/fulltext

– Physiopedia Page: Introduction to Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)

– Physiopedia Course: Introduction to Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) 

– Harvard Implicit Bias Test

– Jhpiego Gender-Transformative Leadership

– Dr. Rosemary Morgan: Gender norms, ill-fitting face masks, and making a difference (one cat at a time) on the Everybody Hates Me: Let’s Talk About Stigma Podcast

– Caroline Criado Perez’s Book: Invisible Women

– Rosemary Morgan, Lillian Asiimwe, Amanda L Ager, Zuhra Haq, Linda Thumba, Diana Shcherbinina, Rehabilitation services must include support for sexual and gender-based violence survivors in Ukraine and other war- and conflict-affected countries, Health Policy and Planning, Volume 38, Issue 3, April 2023, Pages 417–419, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czad005

– Dr. Dave Nicholls’ Book: The End of Physiotherapy