Dr. Finaflor F. Taylan, the Program Chair of the Diploma in and Master of Social Work of the Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS) and Director of the Office of Gender Concerns of the University of the Philippines-Open University (UPOU) served as a plenary speaker during the 50th founding anniversary and national convention of the Association of Medical Social Workers of the Philippines Inc. (AMSWPI). Held in Manila on May 22, 2024, the event marked AMSWPI’s celebration of its decades of dedicated service as it put together the medical social workers in the Philippines to learn together. 

In her talk entitled “Enhancing Healthcare Systems through Gender Sensitive Research”, Dr. Taylan shared the significance of engendering research to ensure that decisions and actions drawn from the research would be able to identify and address gender issues, making our health systems more relevant and responsive to the needs of women, marginalized, and diverse gender identities within the health care systems. Dr. Taylan also shared the characteristics of gender-sensitive research and provided examples of gender issues and research strategies that social work researchers can identify from the research process. She also discussed how UPOU facilitates gender mainstreaming in the university, especially in research and its public service activities, such as offering massive open online courses (MOOCs) on gender sensitivity and its academic programs. Dr. Taylan ended her presentation with an invitation to all the participants to take part in its MOOCs such as gender sensitivity, child protection, and disaster resilience, and opening its doors for partnership and collaboration with AMSWPI. 

Dr. Taylan is a registered social worker by profession and has experience working on a community-based health program utilizing participatory research methods with the community people and medical and allied professions. 

Written by Denise Palisoc and Finaflor Taylan; Edited by Finaflor Taylan