果冻影院

XClose

果冻影院 News

Home
Menu

Details of UK鈥檚 first menopause education and support network announced in Parliament

1 May 2024

Yesterday at the House of Commons, a 果冻影院 team of researchers announced new details about the UK鈥檚 first menopause education and support network.

Joyce Harper and Shema Tariq with Carolyn Harris and Professor Dame Lesley Regan

Last year, experts at 果冻影院 teamed up with leading women鈥檚 health charities to design a new education and support programme for women across the country experiencing menopause.

Since then, the team have been listening to the public through a survey, focus groups and workshop, to co-design the programme. 听

Today, the team revealed that the programme will be called 鈥業n Tune鈥 鈥 as they hope it will allow people to be in tune with menopause, in tune with their bodies, and in tune with each other.听

They also announced that they are developing two programmes. The main programme will be aimed at people experiencing perimenopause (when symptoms have started) and the menopause (when periods have stopped) and will be modelled on antenatal classes, combining education and peer support, and will be rigorously evaluated using complex intervention frameworks.

Menopause parliament

And this summer they will also be launching 鈥淏e Prepared for Menopause鈥, aimed at women and people under 40 who have not reached the perimenopause, and men, to improve menopause awareness and knowledge.

For both programmes, interactive teaching methods will be used. The programmes will be accessible, and use evidence-based menopause education and support to improve menopause awareness for everyone who needs it.

The programmes will be offered both online and face-to-face.

The 果冻影院 team is led by Professor Joyce Harper (果冻影院 EGA Institute for Women鈥檚 Health), Dr Shema Tariq (果冻影院 Institute for Global Health) and Dr Nicky Keay (果冻影院 Medicine). It is in partnership with the charities Wellbeing of Women and Sophia Forum and has the support of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and British Menopause Society (BMS).

An advisory group of key stakeholders has also been providing critical guidance.

Professor Joyce Harper said: 鈥淲e need to teach everyone about their reproductive health at key life stages and menopause education is critical. Too many people enter this life stage with no idea what is going to happen to them, and it seriously affects their quality of life. This has to change. Our name In Tune reflects that women should be in tune with their menopause, in tune with their bodies and in tune with each other.鈥澨

Joyce Harper presenting in parliament

Recent research led by Professor Harper has shown that more than 90% of women were never educated about the menopause at school. Over 60% only started looking for information about it once they began to experience menopausal symptoms*.

The event at the House of Commons discussed the need to provide education and support for menopause and was chaired by Carolyn Harris MP, who is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Menopause, and Professor Dame Lesley Regan.

Speaking at the event, Carolyn Harris praised the "fantastic鈥 initiative for giving women information and support about the menopause that is currently so difficult to access. She said: 鈥淎 lot of women come to the realisation, when they are quite old and desperate, that if I knew then what I know now, it would have been a completely different life path.鈥

Over the last year the 果冻影院 team have made inclusion a priority and in their research have included those with early menopause, surgical menopause, breast cancer, as well as people who are neurodiverse, culturally diverse and from the LGBT community.

panel discussion in parliament

Dr Shem Tariq said: "I'm so excited about launching 鈥業n Tune鈥, and taking the next steps to scale up this important project. Fundamentally, 鈥業n Tune鈥 recognises that with the right information and support, delivered to the right people, at the right time, we can empower communities to manage their health and wellbeing through this key life shift."

At the House of Commons event, Chief Executive of Wellbeing of Women, Janet Lindsay discussed the charity鈥檚 work on menopause and the menopause pledge.

Dr Geeta Kumar spoke about the work of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology on menopause care and the importance of guidelines and patient education resources.

Juddy Otti, Project Manager at Sophia Forum, talked about the group鈥檚 work on developing an education and support programme for women living with HIV. And Haitham Hamoda and Melanie Davies from the BMS discussed how the organisation is training health professionals.

Dr Nicky Keay said: 鈥淚 am delighted to be working with colleagues on this important project to provide reliable information and support to all those who will experience and be impacted by this stage of the hormone odyssey.鈥

Links

Images (top-bottom)

  • Carolyn Harris MP,听Professor Dame Lesley Regan, Joyce Harper and Shema Tariq (credit: Shema Tariq)
  • Speakers and attendees in parliament (credit: Shema Tariq)
  • Professor Joyce Harper presenting (credit: Shema Tariq)
  • Carolyn Harris MP speaking to attendees (credit: Joyce Harper)

Media contact听

Poppy Tombs

E: p.tombs听[at] ucl.ac.uk