Technology-Based Substance Use Interventions: Opportunities for Gender-Transformative Health Promotion

Abstract

Drawing on data from a scoping review on sex, gender and substance use, this narrative review explores the use of gender-informed and technology-based approaches in substance use prevention and health promotion interventions. With an ever-changing landscape of new technological developments, an understanding of how technology-based interventions can address sex, gender, and intersecting equity considerations related to substance use is warranted. Current technology-based approaches to substance use prevention and health promotion are described and assessed for gender-specific and gender transformative outcomes, and limitations are discussed related to inclusivity, access, confidentiality, and a dearth of research on technological approaches that integrate gender-based analysis. A call for action designed to advance technology-based health promotion, prevention and brief interventions that address gender equity simultaneously with substance use is proposed.

Missing in Action: Sex and Gender in Substance Use Research

“…Funding: The work described in this article and several other articles in this special issue [5,[16][17][18][19] was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Gender and Health. Grant # 384548.…”

“…Once we sifted through these, we found that the muddy conceptual use of sex and/or gender prevented us from confidently carrying out our intended overarching systematic review. Instead, based on this material, we developed several scoping reviews [5,16,18,19] and one small systematic review [17] because terms were either misused or imprecise, or in some cases conflated or used in contradictory ways in a single article. Our intention for systematically surveying the current evidence on sex, gender and substance use was undermined because precise engagement with sex and gender in research was, in essence, missing in action.…”

“…Wolfson et al [19] directly assess the gender-transformative impact of brief interventions on alcohol, via a cogent sex and gender analysis of existing literature in that area. Similarly Stinson et al [16] address the gendered use of technology to respond to substance use treatment and interventions.…”

“…While the past twenty years has seen a rise in interest and application of sex and gender science in health, the substance use field has been slow to insist on the inclusion of these concepts. This special issue [5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] is aimed at providing a remedy for this lack, and more importantly, to provide examples of the impact of sex and gender in a range of substances, cultures, populations and contexts.…”

Protecting women and girls from tobacco and alcohol promotion

“…The programme changed normative beliefs, reduced substance use among the girls, and reduced alcohol consumption among their mothers. 30 Interventions to deal with alcohol consumption on college campuses in Canada have included peer run programmes to promote examination of, and change in, the gender norms and inequities that underlie alcohol use to reduce consumption and promote health. In doing so the programmes work to empower women to question the alcohol industry's gendered marketing approaches.…”