Skills for Systems Leaders to enhance Population Health in response to the Women’s Health Plan Wales

Despite longer life expectancy, women experience poorer healthy life expectancy than men, with greater disability and unmet need. These outcomes are shaped by gender inequity intersecting with deprivation, ethnicity and other social determinants. Delivering the Women’s Health Plan, Wales, UK, requires system leaders to apply gender‑responsive and intersectionality‑informed population health approaches, yet structured opportunities to develop these skills are limited. Public Health Wales secured Welsh Government funding to design and pilot training aimed at strengthening system leaders’ understanding of gender inequity and its implications for population health and service planning. Using a Theory of Change, the workshops were co‑developed with NHS, third sector and academic partners and delivered to professionals involved in shaping women’s health policy and services across two health boards. This project forms part of the Welsh Health Equity Status Report initiative (WHESRi) programme of work on gender equity and uses a high-level rapid evidence review, aligned with WHO guidelines. Participants reported improved understanding of gender equity, intersectionality and the use of sex‑ and gender‑disaggregated data in women’s health planning. Confidence in applying these concepts to population health decision‑making increased following the workshops. Participants also reported motivation to apply learning in their roles, suggesting potential influence on policy and service design. Senior leadership engagement enabled extension beyond a single pilot intervention. Embedding gender competence within system leadership development can strengthen the practical implementation of women’s health policy. Co‑development with multiple sectors supports relevance and shared ownership.

Key messages

• Strengthening gender and intersectionality competence among system leaders is essential for effective implementation of women’s health policies.

• Population health approaches informed by gender analysis can improve equity, responsiveness and impact of women’s health services, leading to improved health outcomes for women.