General Discussion 217 8 class-based power relations in intersectional gender research, historical and systemic factors such as undesirable discrimination and biases can be explored. These efforts are important when we aim to prioritize cultural competence in PD researcher and care providers by understanding how social inequalities are produced and reproduced and how they affect health outcomes of people with PD. More precise and nuanced investigations into the role of intersectional gender on health and health outcomes as part of gender equity initiatives is not only a matter of social justice and rights. It is crucial for producing high quality research and providing effective care to patients. Some exemplar research questions for intersectional gender studies in PD with different methodological approaches are presented in Figure 1. Implication for medical education, clinical practice, and policy makers To study gender in medicine is to become curious about what is generally considered as ‘normal’ and ‘normative’ in ‘doing gender’ and to become aware of and question its underlying assumptions. This requires the development of cultural competence among healthcare professionals, researchers, and policy makers to cultivate sensitivity towards the social structures that shape people’s lived experiences and that can become harmful towards their health. Initially, this means building awareness of the social and demographic structures that shape the perspectives of healthcare professionals, researchers, and policy makers themselves; the lenses through which we analyse our daily observations. Lenses through which we evaluate others in their ‘similarities’ and ‘differences’ compared to our own experiences and, hence, the perspective and attitudes we might, (un)consciously, be biased towards. Cognitive biases and heuristics, which include learned ideas about gender and gendered expectations, are shortcuts that allow us to interact meaningfully with other people without having to exhaust our insufficient attention resources.21 Information about gender has perceptual primacy in the way we frame and see the world, and this cognitive social categorization process is an inevitable part of our perceptual experience.21,22 First, recognizing that social categorization is something human beings do is a first step to engage in a process of uncovering ‘doing gender’ as normative performances in personal and professional practices. Second, acknowledging that these cognitive heuristics and biases inform medical and health-related decision making encourages the training of healthcare professionals and medical students in reflective reasoning. Reflective reasoning can counteract the impact of undesirable biases of healthcare professionals themselves and helps to flags harmful (self)stereotyping behaviours in patients and constraining social roles and positions during medical consultations.23 This gender awareness is a prerequisite for the integration of gender sensitivity in medicine.24 It holds a promise for gender transformative care practices that go beyond
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