it's time to end the stigma associated with menopause. here’s how
the role of doctors, employers and policy-makers in creating a new, healthier approach to menopause
4 minute read
“this is a huge time of change for women,” said dr. wendy wolfman (right), director of the centre for mature women’s health at mount sinai hospital. supplied
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menopause is having a moment. with high-profile celebrities like oprah, michelle obama and naomi watts talking about their experiences with hot flashes and mood swings, you might think menopause is now a topic discussed openly at home and at the doctor’s office.
you’d be wrong.
according to a new study examining societal attitudes and personal experiences, the majority of canadians (57 per cent) think menopause is a taboo topic people are uncomfortable discussing.
“we have largely normalized male aging, yet women are still embarrassed to discuss basic menopause symptoms,” said janet ko, president and co-founder of the menopause foundation of canada.
ko — alongside dr. wendy wolfman, director of the centre for mature women’s health at mount sinai hospital, and dr. sheila wijayasinghe, a family physician and certified menopause practitioner at women’s college hospital — was a panellist at a recent leadership discussion called “life beyond stigma: elevating the voices of women experiencing menopause.”
the panelists agreed that while each woman’s experience with menopause is unique, many share common symptoms and struggle to find information on how to manage them.
among the symptoms women might experience are hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruptions, vulnerability to mood swings, irritability, panic attacks, depressive episodes and even uncontrollable anger. “this is a huge time of change for women,” said dr. wolfman. “and recognizing health risks at this time can improve the quality of women’s lives as they age.”
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confusion about symptoms and related health risks can come from uncertainty about the term menopause itself. to provide context for the discussion, dr. wolfman gave a baseline definition: “we say someone is menopausal when it’s been a year since their last menstrual period.” in other words, a woman is in menopause when she hasn’t had a period for 12 months in a row.
“knowledge is power,” said ko. to get a handle on symptoms, women can turn to the menopause foundation’s symptom tracker. “you know your body,” ko continued. “you know when something isn’t right. so, track your symptoms and talk to your health-care provider. if you go in with clear information on the top challenges you are experiencing, they are more able to help you.”
another step toward better care, said dr. wijayasinghe, is ensuring health-care providers themselves are properly educated. “we need to ensure family doctors are equipped with up-to-date information. as family physicians, it’s our responsibility to understand menopause and be able to treat this phase that has such a huge impact on our lives,” she said.
ko agreed. “women are struggling to have high-quality conversations with health-care providers, which is a big barrier right now.”
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dr. wijayasinghe emphasized that care needs to happen at the medical school level. “when i was in med school, i think i had maybe half an hour’s instruction on menopause,” she said. “we’re trying to change that for family medicine residents. i taught a three-hour lecture recently for a cohort of family medicine residents. they were all super keen and recognized this is important. we should be treating menopause in family practice just like we treat diabetes or heart failure.”
dr. wolfman agreed but acknowledged that elevating the importance of menopause in medical school curriculums has been a challenge. “menopause is only part of the obgyn curriculum, which is a six-week course and maybe two hours are for menopause. they get clinical experience, but it depends on the hospital and who the medical students rotate through. we’re trying to change this, but i’ve been told that there are so many things that family doctors need to know, and menopause competes with those. with all due respect, we’re talking about something that impacts half the population.”
the panellists discussed how the impact of menopause symptoms on women’s lives can have a cascading effect. “one symptom can lead to other impacts,” said ko. “i may have hot flashes that keep me up at night, so then i might feel like i have brain fog, which makes me feel exhausted at work.”
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untreated symptoms not only affect a woman’s quality of life but can lead to loss of productivity in the workforce. a recent report from the menopause foundation revealed that the unmanaged symptoms of menopause costs the canadian economy an astonishing $3.5 billion a year.
ko emphasized that managers don’t need to be menopause experts but do need to create high trust environments where employees can discuss barriers to achieving top performance. the menopause foundation’s “menopause works here” campaign provides employers with a five-step action plan to help close the menopause knowledge gap at work. “it’s not a heavy lift to make a big difference,” said ko.
she encourages employers to break the taboo of menopause at work by holding information sessions and to look at benefit plans to ensure they cover options women might need, such as medications, mental health support and pelvic floor physiotherapy.
ko urges government and policy-makers to push for awareness campaigns, public and physician education, and information on regulated and unregulated products. “when women are denied access to menopause care and treatment we fail half of the population. canada is lagging behind australia, the uk and, in some respects, the us.
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ko is passionate about shifting the conversation on menopause from a time of decline to one of growth, renewal and wisdom. “this is a great stage of life. just look at the amazing people around us, who, in their 50s, 60s and beyond, live phenomenal lives. that’s what we all deserve.”
“i think we should celebrate this time of life,” said dr. wijayasinghe. “there’s so much joy, so much wisdom in this time. if you are treated appropriately and acknowledged — there’s so much you can do. your life is not over just because you’ve stopped having your periods.”
this story was created by healthing content works, healthing.ca’s commercial content division, on behalf of astellas.
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