Exclusive OHW+ member webinar. Watch on-demand now.
Understanding menopause transition is complex and is influenced by many factors.
It can be difficult for female, trans/non-binary and intersex employees, healthcare professionals and people managers to navigate the lack of information and manage physical and mental health symptoms at work. Twenty-five per cent of women, trans and non-binary people will experience symptoms that impact their quality of life, with many suffering in silence due to the stigma surrounding the discussion of reproductive health.
Oestrogen fluctuation can also be severe when the menopause transition is premature or early; after certain treatments, for example breast cancer; or due to a surgically induced menopause following a hysterectomy. These employees will need support and understanding at work.
This webinar, exclusively for OHW+ members, seeks to normalise the menopause transition through education on this stage of reproductive health.
Emma Persand, founder and director of Lemur Health and Working with the Menopause, discusses how biological changes, the society we live in and the culture we have been brought up with all influence the menopause experience, including the job we do and the workplace support offered.
At the end of the webinar, occupational health professionals should:
- Understand the role of the workplace as a wider determinant to good health outcomes
- Understand the operational risks of menopause symptoms and the collaborative approach required to reduce and control them
- Understand the key recommendations to employers in the 2022 DWP report, Menopause and employment: How to enable fulfilling working lives
- Know how to promote an environment normalising menopause at work.
This webinar, exclusively for OHW+ members, took place on Tuesday 27 September. It was chaired by Professor Anne Harriss and featured a live Q&A session.
About our speakers
Emma Persand is the founder and director of Lemur Health and Working with the Menopause. A qualified nurse, Emma completed the Specialist Skills Certificate of Menopause Care and the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Certificate for Menopause symptoms through the British Menopause Society.
Emma is vice-chair of the Society of Occupational Medicine’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force and sits on the European Menopause and Andropause Society’s Task Force, contributing to the 2022 global statement on what health care professionals need to know.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Emma is currently working with the British Standards Institute on a new Menstruation Health and Menopause Workplace Guide.
Professor Anne Harriss is emeritus professor of occupational health. Former course director at London South Bank University, she led the development of more than ten educational programmes at diploma, degree and MSc level. Anne is a past president of the Society of Occupational Medicine.
