World Menopause Day: from Awareness to Action

By Caroline Lock and Manuela Brun

18th October is World Menopause Day.  An increasing body of research about the menopause and the workplace shows that professional management training, reasonable adjustments and support can have a hugely beneficial effect on anyone going through the perimenopause and the menopause, as well as the people around them.  SAGE provides employees with resources, support and training for managers, and also publishes widely on this topic, not only in health and nursing journals but also increasingly across the social sciences.  

It was really encouraging to see this topic featured at the 2022 British Academy of Management conference in a workshop entitled ‘Everyone’s Talking About Menopause’, led by Katy Marsh-Davies of Sheffield Hallam University. This featured leading researchers talking about their work, and included a presentation by Joanne Duberley & Carol Atkinson on their research on the impact of the menopause in the police service.  Details of this project and findings are published in Work, Employment & Society in their article  The Menopause Taboo at Work: Examining Women’s Embodied Experiences of Menopause in the UK Police Service.   

The British Menopause Society has recently published their Joint position statement with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and Society for Endocrinology on best practice recommendations for the care of women experiencing the menopause in the journal Post Reproductive Health.  This, and Menopause practice standards, may help people suffering from symptoms and who may be struggling to get medical health or advocate their case. 

Please visit the links above for more information and raise awareness on World Menopause Day.