Navigating Menopause in the Workplace: A Case Study exploring Attitudes, Awareness, and Impact of Menopause on employees at the Healthcare Management Trust
With growing encouragement from professional bodies and an expanding legislative duty requiring UK employers to provide supportive environments to menopausal employees, this study qualitatively evaluates the attitudes, awareness, and impact of the menopause transition amongst staff at the Healthcare Management Trust (HMT). Using an inductive approach to explore the subjective experiences and perceptions of respondents, a survey was distributed amongst women within HMT to obtain qualitative data. The responses received by 58 participants are thematically analysed with several interconnected themes surrounding the menopause experience identified. A perceived lack of menopausal knowledge, varying symptoms, and strategies of support available to respondents were key themes to emerge and subsequently analysed. The results provide an invaluable insight into the menopause experience of staff within HMT by establishing experiences that were previously lesser explored within wider research. The findings established the deeply personal nature of the menopause transition given the vastly varying range and severity of symptoms which challenges the generalisability of existing research alone in developing an effective women’s health strategy within HMT. The insights gained from the respondents within HMT subsequently offered a number of recommendations that offer a tailored and empathetic women’s health strategy at HMT. The recommendations seek to offer practical support to HMT staff by improving policy provisions, targeted training, and appropriate support measures all identified as key areas for improvement to support employees through the menopause journey.
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