I’ll bet you didn’t realise that October is Menopause Awareness Month.
Don’t worry though as you won’t have been the only one to be blissfully unaware of this hidden condition that affects millions of women around the world.
That is part of the challenge in highlighting something that is so individual and personal, but also something that will be affecting someone you know right now.
The menopause affects every single woman to some degree or other, yet no one likes to talk about it, so these women suffer in silence.
That could be your mother, aunt, sister, neighbour, friend or colleague, so you will know someone.
The menopause is not just a ‘female issue’ but an organisational one too
Rachel Lekman Channel Marketing Manager for Sustainability and Construction
Next Friday
The pinnacle of this month of awareness is World Menopause Day, which is held annually on 18 October – this coming Friday.
It aims to break taboo and improve women’s health and wellbeing by raising awareness about the symptoms of menopause and the support options available.
For many of these women, the condition can be an isolating experience and the majority report that it also had a negative impact on their careers.
With a proportion of the workforce experiencing menopause, it is crucial to raise awareness about menopause at work.
For many women, the effects of the menopause can be made worse because they lack support either at home or at work, and this often stems from lack of awareness, which is why the annual event seeks to focus attention on the menopause.
The theme for World Menopause Day 2024 is Menopause Hormone Therapy, known in the UK as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Medication helps to replace the estrogen that the body stops making during menopause.
Common symptoms
Whilst the average age of the menopause is 51, it can occur as early as the 30s. Many women going through menopause are too often unsupported at both home and at work.
The conditions can feel different for everyone, with people having a number of symptoms or even none at all.
Hot flashes and sweats are the most common symptoms of the menopause and affect three out of four menopausal women. They’re often characterised by a sudden feeling of heat that spreads throughout the body. In some cases, women have reported experiencing hot flashes every ten minutes throughout the day.
https://healthtalk.org/menopause/hot-flushes-and-sweats
Menopausal women are demographically, the fastest-growing group of workers in the UK, and in a survey by the British Menopause Society, 45% of women feel their symptoms have a negative impact on their work.
Also common is the ‘menopause brain fog’ which is a group of symptoms that occur around the time of the menopause and can include:
- Difficulty remembering words and numbers
- Disruptions in daily life (misplacing items like keys)
- Trouble concentrating
- Difficulty switching between tasks
- Forgetting the reason for doing something
- Forgetting appointments and events.
Menopause as an organisational issue
More women than ever are going through menopause at work as the workforce gets older. It is therefore not just a ‘female issue’ but an organisational one too.
Employers are responsible for the health, diversity and inclusion of all employees and menopausal women and their colleagues require support as part of the approach to employee wellbeing.
In a survey led by YouGov, 65% of menopausal women reported they were unable to concentrate at work and 58% said they experienced more stress. Previous research has also found that severe hot flashes are associated with lower work productivity and lower levels of feeling healthy.
There are also links between menopause symptoms and women being less engaged at work, less satisfied with their job and having a greater intention to quit.
The lack of support for women affected by the menopause is also felt to have forced some women to leave their jobs.
Businesses and managers that want to learn more about helping menopausal women could benefit from a quick visit to the Talking Menopause website.
This is of course, just the start of supporting women going through menopause, and there are many other ways businesses can assist during this time of life. From training for staff and managers, considering the materials of uniforms and allowing flexible working arrangements for women who may need to leave suddenly; there is no need for women to feel isolated or penalised for reaching a natural stage in life.
Comfort and support
The menopause is a natural part of life. Some women may cope well with the physical and emotional changes, but others may find it particularly difficult to cope, both in and outside of work.
We are all aware of how problems outside of our control can impact on our ability to function and perform, and for menopausal women, these problems are made worse by the misunderstanding and lack of awareness around the experience of menopause.
Better temperature control within the workspace using air conditioning can be a practical solution that can help to alleviate certain menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, allowing menopausal women to work more comfortably.
But environmental considerations are only the start of supporting women in the workplace as the menopause is one of the strongest taboos still existing in society – making the experience an isolating one for many.
World Menopause Day is an excellent initiative to raise awareness around the impact menopause has on the everyday lives of the women around us.
Rachel Lekman is Marketing Manager for Sustainability and Construction
