Invitation to help improve the experience of the menopause for working women in your organisation

Lancaster University's MENO-kit Project is a 3-year academic research project funded by the
charity Wellbeing of Women. It has been developed because in the UK, there are approximately 5.1 million women between the ages of 45 and 59 who are actively working. Menopause typically occurs around the age of 51, which means a significant number of women in the UK workforce may be experiencing menopause and its transitional phase while still employed. 

However, until recently, menopause has not received adequate attention as an occupational health concern, and there have been limited evidence-based interventions specifically addressing menopause within the workplace.

About MENO-Kit

Our project aims to develop and evaluate an online toolkit to improve understanding and experience of the menopause for working women and organisations, as well as promote a women’s health friendly culture. This toolkit will build on the research team’s previous work, which developed and evaluated two brief interventions for menopausal working women and line managers. New research studies are currently underway that will provide further evidence and insights to inform this new toolkit.

We are inviting ten medium-to-large organisations in the UK to be the first to use this new, evidence-based toolkit for 12 months and help us evaluate its use and impact in their organisation.

What involvement will look like

As one of our participating organisations, your involvement is anticipated to include:

• Engaging in discussions with the research team about the toolkit and its design before it launches

• Help your staff engage with the toolkit and provide their feedback to us through our data collection methods (e.g. short surveys)

• Help us identify your key staff involved in the implementation of the toolkit within your organisation and invite them to take part in short interviews.

Benefits of joining the project

We envisage a number of benefits for your organisation if you are part of the research project:

1. You will be one of the first organisations to gain access to the world’s first evidencebased online toolkit and evaluation study on menopause and work

2. You will be involved in a cutting-edge research project by several of the world’s leading experts on menopause and menopause in the work context

3. Your staff will become educated, informed, and trained about menopause in the work context, which may, in turn, facilitate a women’s health-friendly work culture in your business`

4. We may be able to provide tailored feedback and recommendations about your workforce in the format of a feedback presentation, for example (virtual or in person)

5. You may become a case study or ‘best practice’ example to showcase the efforts of addressing menopause in your workplace

6. Involvement will demonstrate your organisation’s commitment to becoming a menopause-friendly employer

7. Being part of the research might enable you to apply for awards for your organisation such as “Britain’s Healthiest Workplace” award from Vitality

8. As one of the ten participating organisations, you will be invited to attend the toolkit launch event with our funders, Wellbeing of Women, to celebrate and promote the toolkit nationwide at the end of the three-year project (Q4 2024). Location TBC

Would you like to discuss this further?

We would be delighted to arrange an informal call with you to discuss this opportunity. Please contact Glyn Jones - r.g.jones@lancaster.ac.uk with your details. Thank you!