Women’s sexual health in France: supply changes, professional practices and healthcare use – GYMS

For decades, public policies have been concerned about women’s sexual health both at the international and the national level. Sexual health is usually defined as “a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality, and not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity” (World Health Organization). Difficulties of access to sexual healthcare are frequently reported by French women and sexual healthcare status and consumption are still largely explained by socio-economic characteristics.
In France, sexual healthcare can be provided by gynaecologists, general practitioners (GPs) and midwifes. The characteristics of these health professionals have strongly evolved since the early 2000s, especially with a drop in the number of gynaecologists and the increasing skills of midwifes in gynaecological follow-up out of pregnancy.
This project will evaluate the effects of the changes in the supply of sexual healthcare on the professional practices and on healthcare use by women. We will first provide a typology of territories according to the characteristics of the supply and demand in sexual healthcare (WP1). We will then analyse the evolution of professional activities (volume, composition and coordination with other professionals) depending on where practitioners are practising (WP2). Finally, we will analyse the evolution of sexual healthcare use in relationship with the evolution of the supply.
In each WP, we will combine a qualitative approach (interviews) with a quantitative analysis (using survey or administrative data) thanks to the skills of our pluridisciplinary team (economics, midwifery, geographic, sociology).