This year, with World Health Day spotlighting women’s long-term health, it’s important to acknowledge that virtual care is more than a convenience—it offers a real solution to building a more equitable and accessible healthcare system in Canada.
One percent of global healthcare research is invested in female-specific conditions beyond oncology, according to the McKinsey Health Institute. This chronic exclusion of women’s health in medical research has profound effects, not only on the availability of specialized care, but on the way women are treated in care settings, as well.
Women’s health concerns are still routinely deprioritized or overlooked. This is especially true for women seeking healthcare support during menopause. Due to lack of training, many physicians do not offer treatment for symptoms that can accompany peri/menopause and significantly impact women’s quality of life.
Proven treatment options for symptoms of menopause have existed for decades and are authorized for use by Health Canada. Unfortunately, a misinterpretation of the results of a high-profile study on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) led to its broad vilification for many years. This had a major impact on access to menopause care and hormonal therapy, and we’re still navigating the aftermath. In order to continue bridging the gap in menopause education and increase access to care, modern approaches to women’s health are essential.
Virtual care powers women’s healthcare
Despite the longstanding availability of treatments and prescriptions for the symptoms of menopause, women face systemic barriers in accessing solutions, often due to daunting wait times or difficulty getting in to see a physician. Unfortunately, women are 50% more likely than men to report deferring care due to long wait times.
Women continue to shoulder the majority of childcare and household duties as compared to men. Many women don’t have the luxury of time off to use towards traveling to a clinic or physician’s office. These systemic factors create additional barriers to access.
In this context, virtual care is extremely effective at connecting women with care for their everyday health needs. 45 percent of women report that virtual care options offer more convenient appointments that suit their lifestyle, a testament to its effectiveness and value.
In Canada, Felix Health aims to ensure women have access to important prescriptions like birth control and menopause hormone therapy, offering end-to-end virtual consultation, diagnosis, and medication delivery.
At Felix, we strongly believe that virtual care can champion women’s health by:
- Ensuring women receive evidence-based care across the continuum of their health journeys. All of Felix’s programs are informed by specialists and all care is delivered by trained and licensed healthcare practitioners.
- Removing physical barriers for women by offering convenient and on-demand care that they can access from the comfort of home and treatment that can be delivered to their door with free shipping.
- Removing psychological barriers by providing stigma-free support through primarily asynchronous consultations, secure chat-based diagnoses, and discreet treatment packaging.
Unfortunately, most family physicians have not been adequately trained in menopause care during medical school and residency. This leaves women suffering through unwieldy specialist waitlists or not receiving care at all if they live in provinces with no menopause clinics. Many women don’t know that they can access everyday health treatments safely via telemedicine. When some rural and remote communities don’t have access to doctors, the ability to access care through Felix can have an important impact on their lives.
Virtual care is becoming an increasingly valuable mechanism in the delivery of care, particularly for women. It means they can get access to trusted, evidence-based care on their terms, without giving up more of their already-scarce time.
Dr. Kelly Anderson is a family physician board-certified in emergency medicine and HIV medicine. She is also the Medical Director for Felix, a leading virtual care platform for everyday health needs.
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