English Summary 227 9 Summary (English) Context, rationale, and overall approach In Chapter 1, I outline the context of the research included in this thesis, address the knowledge gaps in the investigation of gender in medical research and in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) in particular, and present a multimethod approach to address these gaps. Overall, the aim of this thesis was to explore the impact of gender and its multiple dimensions in the context of PD. Understanding the impact of gender on health outcomes and illness experiences In Chapter 2, I provided a rapid overview of the current knowledge base regarding the impact of sex and gender on the management of care for people with PD. In Chapter 3, I quantitatively assessed the impact of multiple gender dimensions on health-related quality of life among people with PD. And in Chapter 4, I explored the subjective impact of gender dimensions on the illness experiences of people with PD using a qualitative approach. Advancing the study of gender in medical research In Chapter 5, I explored how multi-method human centred design approaches are used in health research and innovation, and I integrated these findings into a novel design-based study (Chapter 6). In this study, I explored patients’ perspectives on the impact of gender norms and stereotypes in PD illness experiences and co-created focal points for gender-sensitive PD care. Based on the insights gained from these studies, I emphasized in Chapter 7 the need for contextualisation of gender in medical research. Integration of the key findings In Chapter 8, I discussed the main findings of this thesis and the methodological considerations for the study of gender in PD research and in a broader medical research context. Implications for future research, medical education and clinical practice were addressed as well.
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