Gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity in the context of health and migration

This article deals with the significance of gender as a social determinant of health and questions the influence of gender roles in health-care services. In the context of worldwide migration, women and men of different ethnicity or social class meet with health-care providers in cross-cultural medical settings. This setting is a challenge for the European Region and in order to allow for diversity and gender sensitivity in health-care practice, interventions should address a range of factors. The concept of intersectionality goes beyond gender sensitivity and includes the consideration of other dimensions of difference, such as age, social class, education, and ethnicity. The interaction between these social dimensions of health shapes the health needs of patients and also influences doctor-patient communiation and social interaction.