Every woman will experience menopause. While everyone’s experience of menopause is individual, it is not equal. A new paper has examined how life circumstances – including income, education, health literacy, access to good healthcare, and support from family and community – can affect people’s experience of menopause.
Black, immigrant, LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+) individuals and those on a low income often experience menopause symptoms earlier, face more severe symptoms, and find it harder to get the right care. This can happen because of unfair systems, cost, poor access to services, and cultural stigma.
The paper highlights that menopause has long been under-represented in health research, and has focused on white, affluent populations. Further gaps have been found in clinical understanding – clinician training in menopause management is inadequate compared to other health conditions. This not only affects women’s experiences of menopause but has consequences for future health, in particular for cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and cognitive health.
Lived experience of menopause varies tremendously. Cultural norms, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic conditions and geographic location can contribute to how individuals perceive, report and manage their symptoms. For instance, black women report more frequent, severe and longer lasting hot flushes and sweats than white women. Women on lower incomes are more likely to experience more severe symptoms earlier and have reduced access to evidence-based treatments.
This new paper, published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, outlines actional steps needed to achieve equitable menopause care. These include:
• Clinicians and health systems must address both clinical and social barriers. This includes routinely screening for social determinants of health (such as economic stability, education, and access to care), providing culturally responsive and trauma-informed care, and ensuring access to trained clinicians and comprehensive menopause services.
• Education about menopause should be easy to understand and tailored to people from different backgrounds. This includes better information for patients and better training for healthcare professionals.
• Policies and research also need to make menopause care easier to access, include more diverse groups of people, and treat menopause support as an essential part of healthcare.
Recognising menopause as a public health priority is an important step towards helping everyone age in better health. More women should have easy access to hormone treatments.
You can read the paper here.
