Conclusions

Providing excellent psychosocial care to women
throughout the life-cycle is one of the most complex
and rewarding tasks a primary provider will undertake.
The attention, time, and focus by the provider to
the broad spectrum of emotional, developmental, economic,
cultural, and social issues that will impact one’s
health will be time well spent. Women, by virtue of
their unique caretaking, childrearing, and employment
responsibilities, have special concerns that require care
and attention. Respect and appreciation for the value of
psychosocial care will not only lead to better care of
patients, but better satisfaction by providers.
This chapter has focused on the psychosocial
health care of women and suggested shifts in the
paradigm of the approach in order to meet the needs
of women that may be unique to them. However,
many feel that the precepts and principles of relational
thinking are relevant to both genders and support
an overall approach that is more sensitive to the
needs and realities of all. Viewing one’s patients,
regardless of gender, through a relational lens offers
the possibility of humanism as a guiding ideal for
medicine. Perhaps, as practitioners care for the caretakers
in our culture, this ideal might be better realized
throughout medicine.

Posted in: Health,Psychosocial health of well women through the life-cycle