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S2:EP8: MENOPAUSE UNWRAPPED: Empowering Wellness in the Workplace
29 Plays6 months ago
In this special episode for Menopause Awareness Day, hosted by RISE and Women +, we tackle the vital topic of menopause in the workplace. Join host Sam Wakeham and our expert panel, featuring Lyndsey Oliver (Head of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at BaxterStorey), Lizzie Foskett (Head of Nutrition at BaxterStorey), and Melissa Tomsett (Head of Development at Kelly’s Cause), as they discuss the challenges, misconceptions, and practical solutions for supporting menopause in the workplace.
We'll explore the links between menopause and mental health, the importance of nutrition, and how to create a more inclusive environment at work. The panel shares real-life stories and expert advice to help colleagues and employers better understand and support those experiencing menopause.
Listen for actionable support on mental health first aid, peer support, and how dietary changes can help manage symptoms such as hot flushes, fatigue, and weight gain. This is a conversation you won’t want to miss, filled with insights to take back to your teams and businesses.
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Transcript
Introduction and Panel Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, I'm Sam. I'm the Head of Creative at Back to the Story and I'm going to be your host for our panel discussion about menopause in the workplace and how we can support through mental health support and to also help our peers and family members and everyone we know who goes through the menopause. We have amazing guests with us. We have Lindsay Oliver who is our Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Back to the Story. wo Lindsay will be sharing her insights on creating inclusive environments and support in the for menopause in the workplace. We also have Mel Thompson, Head of Development at Kelly's Calls, a charity that provides mental health first aid training and support in the hospitality industry.
00:00:42
Speaker
And last but not least, we have Lizzie Boskett from Baxter story. She's our head of nutrition and Lizzie will be telling us about how nutrition can help manage menopause symptoms and how workplaces can integrate nutrition into their food services. Now, before we begin, we just want to acknowledge that while we may use the term women throughout this conversation, we appreciate that all genders can go through the menopause and we just want to make sure that we keep this conversation inclusive and yeah.
00:01:09
Speaker
as sensitive as possible to other undergraduate mentors.
Understanding Menopause in the Workplace
00:01:12
Speaker
So, Lindsay, I'd like to start with you. and Menopause in the workplace. Yeah. Hundreds of thousands of people each year go through the menopause in the UK, probably millions. Yeah. And an interesting in stat I found that was over a million people in the UK have either left or thought about leaving their job due to the lack of support for menopause. And I just wanted to get your thoughts on how do you think workplaces handle menopause and what do you think the biggest gaps are?
00:01:39
Speaker
Yeah, so I would say it varies from provision of absolutely nothing to some organisations that do quite a lot and there's everything that's in between. If I think about our approach of Back to the Story, we're trying to take a holistic approach to what we're doing. It's really important that you've got policies and it's not just about having a men's menopause policy, it's about how does that interact with things like flexible working and things like that. Also your sickness and absence policy. It's about making sure that it's cohesive and whole. There's a bit about how do we make sure that we raise awareness? How do we make sure that people understand a little bit more? We've trained a whole pile of menopause champions in Baxter Story. That was this year and they're off rolling out a couple of courses, one of which is around
00:02:22
Speaker
people experiencing menopause and then the other one is around people supporting people experiencing menopause because one of the things but we really really want to do is to normalize the conversation. i The other bit is about workplace adjustments or reasonable adjustments it might be known as and it's not just the provision of workplace adjustments it's making sure that if you have anything in your supply chain that you make sure that you can actually provide those adjustments. So one of the things that we've been working on as well is around inclusive uniforms, which is really important. So it's about saying that you can do adjustments, but also making sure that it's easy to do. The other one is ERG, so employee resource groups. um RISE is obviously here today, which is our Women in Hospitality, but actually it's supported by another ERG, which is our ways of wellbeing.
00:03:06
Speaker
And so I think it's really important to make sure that we have an intersectional approach to how we look at things around wellbeing. Because as you alluded to, you know, it's not just women that experience menopause. People of all sorts of gender identities experience it too. So for me, it's kind of like this holistic piece. And then the other bit is around and making sure that your provision around health is also inclusive as well and takes into consideration menopause. Plus lots of things as well. But they're the kind of like the big key things.
00:03:35
Speaker
That's really interesting and leads nicely to my next question around. and the misconceptions about menopause in the workplace and menopause in general. And I feel like this is a really loaded question. It is. So one of the biggest ones that we've alluded to, it's not just women. A lot of people think it is just women and it's not. The fact that there are so many symptoms at the moment, I think it's like over 30 symptoms of menopause, but a lot of people think it's just about hot flushes and brain fog. There's so many, but to myself, there's a new one every week. It's like Simpson Bingo, to be honest.
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah, the other bit is that HRT is the only solution, that's not true, there's lots of different ways that you can actually manage menopause. One of the other myths is that it's personal and it shouldn't be spoken about in the workplace. I absolutely think that we need to normalise those conversations, that there's no long-term impact, there are long-term impacts from a health point of view, that it's women of a certain age or people of a certain age, again not true.
Integrating Menopause Support in ED&I Strategies
00:04:31
Speaker
the average age is 51 but that's really based on kind of a white cis women's experience of it and there's medically induced menopause, there's all sorts of different things and I think we just have to be really supportive and then if I think about Back to the Story, if I think about people's partners who come in and don't necessarily know what's going on because you don't necessarily know that you're at the point of perimenopause when you actually get it you might just think you might be googling early onset dementia to be honest because it is quite scary when you start to think about some of these things. And so even to make it okay for partners to come and have a conversation, we've got mental health first aiders, you know, it's really around that whole cohesive piece and the whole the whole cohesive approach that then makes hopefully it okay to talk about something like that. And if we can talk about menopause, it means we can talk about anything because we all have human beings in our workplace and we all experience so much.
00:05:26
Speaker
um Do you find that menopause fits under the EDNI sort of strategy for a business or do you think it should be sitting somewhere else? How do you think that works? I think it's. sits under everything. if If you've talked to me in Batsasori, I'm trying to make my own job redundant, by the way, because I don't believe we should have ED and&I as a role. Ideally, you've got it integrated across the entire business, across kind of leadership management, you've got your policies in place, you've got your provisions in place, and so hopefully
00:05:58
Speaker
you won't need a me in the future. So as much as it kind of comes into HR, I think it just comes into everything because if you are a kitchen porter or a chef in one of our businesses.
00:06:10
Speaker
It doesn't necessarily fall into a clear cut box. And so we just have to kind of like treat people as human beings and um make sure that people know what's available, how to handle it. If you don't feel comfortable handling it, there are so many different kindlike mechanisms for support and it's directing people in and the right direction. And menopause has been known to impact your work performance potentially. yeah And how do you find that businesses are supporting those who are going through the menopause? I think it varies there definitely is a recognition that it has an impact and I think what we need to make sure is that people feel supported for one thing and also that people don't need if we think about representation and leadership representation and if you think about Gemma
00:06:56
Speaker
who's saying, the you know, we want to get more female chefs into the business and there aren't enough of them and we need to make sure that they stay in the business and don't leave. Same for leaders, we need to make sure that they stay in the business. If people leave because we're not supporting them, actually that has an impact on us as a wider business. this If you can't, if you don't have representation, if you're not a diverse and inclusive organization, we know that there is a massive impact on organizations as a consequence. So the more that we can do to keep people in,
00:07:25
Speaker
And to support them in something that is a part of their life, you know, there is potentially an end point to some of this stuff. How do we make sure that we keep them in? Because it's really important that people stay in the workplace and feel supported.
00:07:39
Speaker
And how do we keep them in? What would be all right? I think it's all about the provisions. Yeah, and I think it's about normalizing conversation about anything, whether it's mental health, which I know would would be talking about, whether it's around kind of like challenges, caring for older parents, whether it's around anxiety, whatever it is. I think if we can be an inclusive culture that allows for those conversations to happen, for workplace adjustments to just be part of the norm. it Because some of them are temporary, some of them are with you forever. I think the more that we do that, the more inclusive we are, the more inclusive we are, the more diverse we are because it means that people stay in, we attract more people in and there is psychological safety in our teams so that people feel as if they've got a sense of belonging.
00:08:26
Speaker
And the sense of belonging is what keeps people. yeah You don't actually necessarily have to be the highest payer for a role. If you've got great and benefits, if you've got a great culture, then actually people will sacrifice money to a certain extent, not always, for that because they will feel valued. Thank you, Lindsay.
Charity Initiatives and Mental Health Support
00:08:46
Speaker
I wanted to talk about mental health and physical wellbeing and how Kelly's calls comes into that. So approximately 50% of people who go through the menopause suffer with some sort of mental health challenge such as anxiety, depression, brain fog, like what Lindsay mentioned, but this often gets unrecognised in the workplace. So Mel, could you tell us a bit more about Kelly's calls and how charities light like it helps employers recognise mental health challenges associated with the menopause?
00:09:15
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. well I actually think Lindsay covered quite a lot that I was going to say there. So I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself. No, but it's fantastic. Cause it's, ah you know, it's exactly the message that we need to get across that we do need to be talking about it. And if we don't know something about a topic, then we need to educate ourselves on it and not be afraid to say that we need to education on that. And maybe that's where the sticking point is. People aren't afraid to say, I don't actually know very much about this. Please tell me.
00:09:41
Speaker
But anyway, Kelly's cause. So we are a, as you said, a mental health first aid charity. We provide mental health first aid within the hospitality business. and We were founded a few years ago now and we were founded in honour of Kelly. um Now Kelly and our founder, Tobyanna, worked together. They trained at the Cordon Bleu. And once they started working in the hospitality arena, shall we say, they Kelly found that her mental health condition that she had which which was pre-existing became very difficult to manage and as a result of the working conditions within hospitality she very sadly took her own life. um Now for those of you working in hospitality you know there's long hours you don't necessarily get a lot of sleep perhaps you're taking medication and that has side effects that impact the work that you're doing um and all of this sadly led to her taking her own life. Now Toby Anna who was head chef at Cricket at the time
00:10:40
Speaker
said, well, this is ridiculous. We can't possibly continue like this as an industry, not recognising the impact that it has on people's mental health. It is a high pressured environment. There are many, many different factors that influence people's mental health, whether they're in hospitality or not. But she decided to do something about it. So she trained as a mental health first aid trainer.
00:11:05
Speaker
and started delivering mental health first aid for free at that point around London. And we've slightly changed what we do as a charity now. So now we have members as well as offering training. And since our inception, we have trained over 2000 mental health first aiders within hospitality across 266 businesses.
00:11:27
Speaker
but And that's really just the start. We're a small team where we're only three four people. And so we we would love to grow and get bigger, but the the key message for us is that we want to do what we do and we want to do it right. And I think that that is also the key message when it comes to menopause.
00:11:43
Speaker
We have to make sure that whatever information we're providing businesses with, it has to be correct. It has to be knowledgeable and it needs to be accessible as well. Accessible to people who are living with people who are going through menopause. And I know there's a few people in the room today who are here to pick up on tips for that, how how they can cope in their home life as well as at work. But also it's it's really just about having those conversations. Our cause with Kelly's cause is to reduce the stigma.
00:12:11
Speaker
is to talk openly about mental health and to make it unintimidating to be able to bring these things up within the workplace and to and for the employer to listen and make the necessary reasonable adjustments and it's really exactly the same for menopause.
Leadership and Home Management Tips
00:12:27
Speaker
We need to remain open, have an empathetic ah mindset when it comes to welcoming people who are ah experiencing menopause and and supporting them and really listening to what they need and making those reasonable adjustments as required. no that's Well said. Is there anything specifically that employers can do with the types of training that you that you would recommend? Well, I think that I'm correct in saying that you've been doing some training for both people experiencing menopause as well as people who are supporting people experiencing menopause. And so I think again, it's just really about that education. I think mental health first aid training will so help as well because the the symptoms that can be experienced that are related to mental health such as anxiety and brain fog, the
00:13:17
Speaker
The mood swings that they experience, panic attacks sometimes come into menopause as well, which can be something new that people haven't experienced before. As well as the normal everyday anxieties that you get, perhaps about going into a meeting, you know, is the room going to be too hot? Am I going to be able to get out of that room if I need to? And that in itself can weigh on, well, anybody's mind, but particularly if it's out of your control due to hormone imbalances.
00:13:45
Speaker
If you know that your manager next to you understands that you may need to leave the room or understands that you would like to know the agenda and perhaps you could go first so that you don't need to be sat there worrying and thinking about the temperature, thinking about the temperature. Not that that's the only thing, of course, but it's just a really good example of small things that employers can do is really just be mindful and ah of the situation that they're putting their employer in. Great.
00:14:11
Speaker
And I suppose this is repeating the question, but what else can senior leaders do to create or foster an inclusive environment for the menopause? I don't think it's necessarily repeating the question because we've we've seen with mental health policies that we've implemented in in businesses, the most successful ones come when the leadership are championing it. champion young you know what I'm trying to say. When they are leading, that they're leading on that topic, okay? Perhaps they're even being vulnerable and sharing their own experience of that topic so that actually the people that they're reporting into them, they can say, okay, this person understands and really can see what what I'm going through and they're more likely to talk about it. So I think the key message for leaders is don't be afraid to educate yourself. Also don't be afraid to say, if you don't know something,
00:15:01
Speaker
Because I think in leadership positions, often you feel like you have to know all of the answers. You don't, particularly if this is not your area of expertise and you're not going through it. And really just get behind the teams that are experts. So, you know, if Lindsay is in a business promoting it and your religion don't know much about it, just get behind Lindsay and and support what what they're doing. And ah really, that's what what it comes down to for leaders. I think we have to embrace it. Yes, definitely. Just ask questions and be curious for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:31
Speaker
And do you have any tips for people who may be going through the menopause, how they can help manage their mental health symptoms at home? Yes, again, very similar to mental health. and We have a really very simple um anagram that we use called sweep, which is making sure you get enough sleep, making sure your water intake is good, eating correctly. And I know that, Lizzie, you'll come on to that. Exercise where you can.
00:15:56
Speaker
And that might not be going to the gym. That might be just, you know, taking a ah walk, you know, a walk, a five minute walk at lunchtime or something. So getting out breathing. So thinking about your breathing exercises and the final S is seek support if you need it. So shout out and seek support. And that support could come in any form. It could be perhaps you you need to go down the therapy route if you feel that that is necessary. But also it could be finding mindfulness, depending on how you feel about that word, I'm sorry. But thinking about, you know,
00:16:26
Speaker
ah meditation and employers could look at maybe providing it meditation apps. Also thinking about yoga perhaps because you can really find yourself relaxing very well. I know my mum really benefited from going to yoga in a way that she thought she would never do, but she definitely enjoyed that and through menopause. And yeah, really just seeking that support. So thinking about sweeps if you, yeah, and and doing that upon your own bat.
00:16:53
Speaker
really. And we often forget to hydrate ourselves all the time. So yes, if in doubt, think about the water. Lily, I really want to talk about hydration as well. And is there anything else you want to add about Kelly's course that you might not have touched on?
Employer Support Systems Discussion
00:17:06
Speaker
Oh, you put me on the spot now because I do have my notes here, which I'm not afraid to say that I have my notes here. No, I think there was there was one little tip that I perhaps wanted to suggest as something because as people who are experiencing menopause sometimes find it difficult to concentrate. I know that I certainly in a and stimulating environment, I find myself there's too much noise going on. So if we can make sure that we're regulating the temperatures in these rooms as well as creating a quiet environment. And if you can't create a quiet environment, perhaps providing earplugs for those people. It's a really simple thing that could help or a nice pair of headphones could be nice.
00:17:44
Speaker
and that just really shows shows your support that you recognise that that person needs a little bit of quiet to be able to concentrate properly. Yeah and I suppose you know working from home as well that may have its benefits but it may have its challenges as well depending on the environment and the situation. Yeah working from home I think and also you know looking at other policies in terms of flexi time so if somebody's not sleeping correctly knowing that they don't have to get up and be in the office for five to nine that they could have that flexibility to come in a bit later would be nice or if there's a We have a traffic light system in some of the businesses that we've worked with for mental health, where they have a ah green, yellow or red light. And if they're having a really low day, they can call their employer and say, I'm having an Amber day. And that person, that that their boss knows, okay, we will, you know, not put you in a new situation that day. Make sure that you're comfortable. And if somebody has a red day, no questions asked, they just say, okay, we'll see you tomorrow.
00:18:37
Speaker
And they that that's them called in sick for the day, basically. And there's no questions asked, you just accept. And it's based on trust, but perhaps you could look at implementing something like that as well, where there's no explanation sort of needed if the, if the circumstances are extreme. That's really good tip. I like that tip. Thank you.
Nutrition and Menopause Management
00:18:55
Speaker
I want to go move on to nutrition and Lizzie, I can see you're excited to talk about nutrition now. And while we know that medication can help manage menopause symptoms, we appreciate that diet and nutrition is one of the best, but it can be one of the best ways to support. So would you mind just telling us a little bit about how nutrition can help support with symptoms like hot flashes, brain fog? Absolutely. So I wanted to start with the positive that diet and nutrition absolutely can help with menopause. And it's probably one of the first places that I would recommend that people go to before they look for other ways to help it. I suppose if we sort of put it down into a whole sort of approach, going for a really wholesome,
00:19:35
Speaker
oh reducing your ultra processed foods, reducing your salt intake, reducing your fat intake, sticking to those whole foods and trying to cook from scratch really will help. I know that is a very sweeping statement so you probably need to sort of chop it down into bits. When it comes to fatigue and something you want to look at getting your B vitamins, getting your iron in there and again that comes from stuff like your green leafy veg and I think for ah an audience we've got today you want to give those little tips So for me, look, whole foods, lots of veg in there, hot flushes all down to the estrogen levels dropping. So you want to look at getting your stuff like your phytoestrogens back in there. Lots of research coming out, but we can't say definitely that soy foods are going to help, but soy foods definitely have been seen to help. But also again, back to the green leafy veg, they are also full of your phytoestrogens and your phytochemicals that are going to really help with hot flushes. What was your other one?
00:20:25
Speaker
What about weight gain? that's such weight gains So yeah, that is a big, big topic. And what they say, and again, menopause is a very newly researched topic. It's still being looked into. Weight gain isn't directly related to menopause, but unfortunately with the lack of sleep that often women suffer from, the hot flashes, the mood, weight gain comes with that. But if you look at really supporting your gut health, eating that whole food diet, you can maintain the weight gain.
00:20:48
Speaker
But again, naturally, where our estrogen drops. A lot of women do find that and especially then sitting around the middle, which is just something we need to watch. So yes, weight gain does come with it. But I think with a really whole food diet, looking at the exercise, looking at keeping that mood up with other things is really, really going to help the weight gain. But positively, there was a study done recently that said 38% of women saw a real decline in symptoms from keeping that diet wholesome.
00:21:16
Speaker
doing the exercise, keeping hydrated and, you know, where work were helping them, they really saw a decrease in their symptoms. Oh, that's interesting. Also, obviously, people going through the menopause will have need nutritional support but post-menopause. its Studies have been showing that ah with the decrease in estrogen, it means that there's going to be potential problems such as heart health and bone health.
00:21:37
Speaker
Would you mind touching on that and explaining that a little bit more? Yeah, so you're definitely right. They're definitely, again, Eastern levels drop and we do get an increased risk of heart disease, bone problems, but swing it into a positive again, you can help. So if you're looking at the stuff like the whole foods where you're getting your phytoestrogens, that acts as an estrogen and attacks the receptors and can help stop that decline in bone health and heart health.
00:22:00
Speaker
When it comes to heart health, you want to look at getting your stuff like your vitamin D and your calcium in there also really helps the bone health at the same time. So it sounds like there's a lot of things that repeat in themselves, but naturally, if you're helping your bone health, it helps your heart health as well. Also things like your calcium and your zinc, you want to get in there again, coming from green leafy veg, lots of beans, people laugh that I'm always mentioning the beans, but they are great for a lot of people. They help keep your bone strong, help reduce the risk of osteoporosis and can also really, really help with heart problems.
00:22:30
Speaker
One other probably thing to put in there as well is estrogen helps keep your bad cholesterol low. So when those estrogen levels start to drop, unfortunately the bad cholesterol keeps creeps up a little bit. So it's just looking at reducing fat and reducing salt to help with that cholesterol. Okay. I feel like as well when it comes to the nutrition, it's a lot of information at once. There's lots of research out there, but it's still a very, very new topic. So I would say as well, when you're looking on Instagram, just make sure you're going for those credited sources because there's a lot of also myths.
00:23:00
Speaker
but come with it. You've said lots of big buzz and lots of immense bit of it. If I'm thinking practically okay I'm going to the supermarket um I want to buy something and I'm like what has ah to estrogen pi to estrogen that what so score is there yes so story product says Yeah, like umbeans i <unk> know so lots of plants have your phytochemicals in there. yeah Another one to point out, and I know there's lots of big words that come out, but serotonin is our happy hormone. Lots we make of 95% of that in the gut. Unfortunately, again, estrogen drops, production of serotonin drops a bit. But if you eat more tryptophan containing foods, which is your meat, your beans, your veg,
00:23:41
Speaker
that can help you produce more serotonin, which keeps that gut happy and in turn keeps the brain happy. But I like what you said there, keeping it basic, go to the supermarket, buy your whole foods, buy your soy containing foods, aim for your 30 plants, move a lot, stay hydrated, I like my top four tips. Let's get it on. Do you have five items that we can add to our shopping list? Sorry. Okay, beans.
00:24:05
Speaker
Okay, always baked beans. Butter beans, kidney beans. Right, okay. um At the moment, your Cavalloneiro, something like that, broccoli, water. We'll get that from the top of the book. We'll put that in there. um Lean meat if you are a meat eater, and your soy containing products in there. So that again is your beans, some of your whole grains. Yeah, let's put some whole grains in there. That's quite broad, but estrogen's got a lot to answer for, isn't it? Yeah, yeah that feels doable. ah Yeah, estrogen has a lot to answer for, but luckily we can support it a little bit. And the one, I'm not really into supplements, but one supplement they are saying may help women now is isoflavones, which contains a phytoestrogen in there. So again, acts like that estrogen.
00:24:48
Speaker
and it's not as strong as estrogen but if you take it for sort of 12 weeks or more you should start to see the benefits of it. And where can you get that? Is that something that's prescribed or is that? You can get that as it from a hole in a bar of whatever. Make sure you're getting it again, look up the source you're getting and it might be worth speaking to a doctor before and especially if you're on HRT or something already. Yeah of course, of course. Thank you Lizzie, I feel like. I know. You need to say Lizzie to the supermarket with you don't you? just um As well as personal chef.
00:25:14
Speaker
I've sort of touched on the workplace and obviously nutrition, but how can workplaces be better at incorporating all of this knowledge into their nutritional food offering? Okay. Well, I'm going to speak on but behalf of backstory for this. So we are doing a lot at the moment in terms of menopause champions, all the work we're doing under our sustainable nutrition movement is a real holistic approach to nutrition. And within that, we want to make sure we're catering for everyone in our workplace, whether it be our teams, our customers.
00:25:40
Speaker
with the approach of what we're having on our counters there would be something for those women to go and choose there and pick from what I've just said there and in 2025 what we really want to be able to do is communicate to the customers about what's in that food so that that person that might be suffering from it can go and pick and hopefully help them fuel them for the day and so you know help them with their long-term benefits and I just think the work that Lindsay is doing the work that we're all doing coming together When i I was saying to someone earlier, when my mum was going through menopause, we never spoke about it. I haven't told me she never had it. right You did. But I just think yeah the work that everyone's doing and having the champions, being able to talk about it, I would love to be able to help people that want a further chat. I'll limit the big words and make it you know easy to do. But yeah, just talking about it and helping each other. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks, Lizzie.
00:26:27
Speaker
Is there anything else you want to add about nutrition that we've not touched anything itching to come out? Yeah, I would say it's a really, really new, newly researched topic. So they're not saying anything is for definite at the moment. They are saying that diet absolutely can help it. And there are nutritionists that now just specialize in nutrition. So if you also, if you want so that one on one real deep conversation with someone, there are people that just do that day and day out. Laura Winess, who we did some work with last year. She's excellent. She's based in Scotland.
00:26:54
Speaker
And 24 seven, she's just researching menopause. So they're really constantly looking into what we can do. And she actually has a cookbook that's available. And there's, I think there's quite a lot of recipes in there as well. So yeah, please, if you are going through the menopause and you would like some nice recipes, they're all in there. And it's a bit more in detail about all of the different foods and ingredients you can buy at that help with different problems as well. I think, sorry, one quick thing as well, you mentioned exercise and it doesn't have to be going to the gym or going on a run.
00:27:21
Speaker
just walking where you can, because that helps so many things. Yeah, and water. And water. And lots of water. And lots of water. Keep hydrated. OK, thank you, Lizzie.
Importance of Open Discussions Across Groups
00:27:30
Speaker
I think we've we've touched on the workplace, nutrition, but we've not really had mental health, but we've not really touched on support from peers and colleagues and friends and family members. And obviously, this is really important to support someone who's going through the menopause and just be there so they can open.
00:27:45
Speaker
up to you. So I suppose my question is, um why is it important that so many people are talking about the menopause, regardless of your age, your gender, and any other barriers that may stop you from wanting to talk about menopause? So for me, I just think it impacts so many people. Like if you look at how many people experience menopause, why isn't there the research? It's been going on forever.
00:28:10
Speaker
But it's one of those subjects that if you start talking about periods and bladders and hot flushes and weight gain and lack of sleep, lack of sex drive, like they're not necessarily the best subjects and just become like chatting with you peer over. However, it is really important. You don't necessarily have to go into all of your symptoms, but even just sharing some of that stuff I think is really important. And if you take it from a personal point of view, because I do this job My poor husband gets to experience everything as well in terms of I tell him all sorts of stuff. But I track my peer just too much information. Sorry. I track my periods through Clue. I have day 21. I'm an absolute bloody nightmare. Excuse my language. And it catches us by surprise every single month. It shouldn't because.
00:28:57
Speaker
it happens every month and so he's now got a clue on his phone and he's put in day 21 warning where he's really nice to me. I might actually add in a few more days during the month just saying that he's really really nice to me maybe on day 18 or day 24 or something like that but it's really important because I'm less of myself and I don't necessarily think in the same way and certain things annoy me and they can take it personally and that's not okay. So I just think it's really useful to talk about it. I've even told my boss Aaron that day 21 is not great. but But I just think it's useful to share some of these things because the more we talk about it, the more we normalise it. We're all human beings working in a workplace and there's so many different things that impact us that are all part of normal life and menopause is part of normal life. it mean
00:29:48
Speaker
So I just think it's useful and it's actually not that embarrassing really when you start talking about it. because It's just about getting the support that you need. And I think if you take your overall career, there's so many different, you're not, it's not linear in terms of the support that you need is when you come into the workplace, there's so many different things that happen in life where you need different support at different phases of your life. And if we can get better at talking about all of that, then I just think it it just helps really.
00:30:16
Speaker
have Have you got any examples of support that you've offered or support that you've sort of seen maybe ah around and then an advice for the audience as well on how ah you can use that?
00:30:27
Speaker
yeah definitely i'm I help a couple of people one-on-one from a friendship basis and a couple of my mum's friends and they have really found that diet and tips have helped them and they have they were about to go for HRT and at the moment they haven't. So I know that was a very quick overview of diet and what you can do but I would say if you take those tips away and try them you can see a big reduction in symptoms.
00:30:48
Speaker
Obviously it's obviously it's a very personal journey but I think like you said Lindsay there's about 30 to 50 symptoms now so it's different for everyone but try things that work for you it's going to work for some people it's not going to work for others and then speak about what's what's helping you and share it. So I take a magic medicine also twice a day it's a homeopathic remedy it's called magic medicine and shot in the morning and shot in the evening and it's I don't know what the herbalist puts in it it's all legal but It's been amazing. It has been amazing. And where'd you get that? Just just from a qualified homeopathist. That's the proper word. Yeah. And so, and yeah, and it's just all herbal remedies, which do so much to help. What about like family members? I know you see, we spoke about when our parents were going through, it it was just like a taboo, didn't even know they were going through it. If we knew, if we knew what we know now, and maybe we could have actually been able to offer some support. No, I think that's a massive thing. I'm like, when we spoke about it, I literally just did think, wow, mum, you're being really weird today or like for a few days. It was never spoken about. And when I was, saw her at the weekend, I said, oh, we're doing this panel. We're talking about it. And she, you know, it was never ever spoken about. And if we did speak about a bit more, spoke about the tips that everyone's hearing, it would just be such a nicer time for the person going through it and everyone else around could help. So I think the biggest thing that I want, you know, while we're all doing it and to spread is just for people to be more aware and just talk. And it's just, like I said, it's still so
00:32:12
Speaker
new in the research area there's going to be so much more coming out on it. I think it's really important and I've got two kids as well and I don't want them to think that um I'm upset with them, i'm not isnt stuff is going on for me and they know if it's day 21 as well so be nice to me but yeah you don't want them to take it personally and just get upset about it yeah when actually if you can just share just give me five extra minutes today kids it's quite useful. Yeah and I think just on that note if ah at work, perhaps somebody um is reacting in a way that doesn't feel like their normal self. I think it's OK to say, take a minute, they are you OK? And then yes, yes, I'm fine. No, really, are you OK? What can I do? Can I get you a glass of water? Do you need some time? And just being really empathetic with that person and allowing that space for them to reflect and say, OK, yeah, actually, maybe I do need a moment to myself.
00:33:12
Speaker
And that works. That works in any situation, even five year olds, which is what I'm going through at the moment. yeah It's not just menopause, just people in general. Allow them that space if you see them, they need that. Yeah. So we're coming towards the end. Is there anything that you'd like to add? I think people learn enough about me.
00:33:35
Speaker
day twenty one so thank you um When scheduled a meeting with me, Sam, just ask. No, I think I've said everything that says questions. Yes, we can take it to the audience.
Menopause Champions and Resources
00:33:45
Speaker
Do you have any questions for our panelists? Good question. Unfortunately, it's not just the blue tick because there's many ways to get the blue tick now. I would look to see what accreditation they have. And with that, you can then look up to see if that's then accredited by an external. So they will have on their BSC or AFN or they'll have something on there. That's often a good sign. Give them give them a Google to see who they've been accredited by. And then that's a pretty good way to see and yeah if they are or not.
00:34:09
Speaker
Again, it's still quite a dodgy area, but that is normally a good starting point. And also, I always think if that person's saying something, have a look on someone else's account, is there a lot of research going at the same time, and then see if that research is being credited by a scientist or something.
00:34:24
Speaker
Do you have any influences in mind that you would recommend if someone was to get that information on social media? I'd say at the moment, Rhianna Lambert's really high up in her plate in the area. There's Em, the nutritionist, I should say. She's doing good things. And then there's eminid Dr. Emily Leeming. And then Zoe are actually doing some really good studies at the moment with big audiences. So I think the four of them at the moment, if you look,
00:34:48
Speaker
They're all saying very similar things. Can you tell us a bit more about the menopause champions at Baxter story and what that actually means? Because I think, yeah, I'd love to hear a bit more about like what that role actually involves and whether we can do the same at ESOS.
00:35:03
Speaker
Yeah so last year we introduced Henpix into the organisation which is a company that specialises in menopause support and resources so we've rolled that out as part of that they have trained up a group of people within our organisation not just people experiencing menopause but you're sat next to someone who's one of our menopause champions so people supporting people as well which I think is super important it should be that we normalise it to they've given a basic training. We've also pulled in some of our insights that we have from our L&D team as well. And we've got mental health first aiders as well. So it's a bit of a combination approach to you get access to their resources. We've also done some videos where people have shared some of their lived experience and that's all part of the training and those trainers, some of which are in ah the audience today have also trained other trainers as well. So the idea is is that
00:35:58
Speaker
trainers train trainers and at the moment correct me if I'm wrong. I think it's monthly webinars, monthly webinars and back to stories part of WSH. It's across all of WSH as well. So we do monthly webinars, one for people experiencing menopause, one for people supporting people experiencing menopause and part of that as well is also just around creating a safe space for people to have conversations and we kind of do a virtual coffee afterwards and yeah. If I've forgotten anything, menopause champions, I apologise, but yeah, thats but hen picks are really good. Hen picks have a lot of resources and also it means that if anything changes, you have an expert led set of resources to come like feed into your strategy and your plan. Because one of the things that I think is really important is to make sure that you use external partners because it's very difficult for me. There's one of me in the team. I can't keep up to date with everything across all protected characteristics, so that partnering is really important.
00:36:55
Speaker
and so that's the approach that we've taken but it's only one it's kind of like one part of the support but it's a really important part of the support. So I've I don't know if I've got I've got a question so I'm 35 and I'm going through menopause because I had ovarian cancer so I've had to so I suppose right now I'm trying to find my way through it at my age when none of my friends are so I suppose one question is is there anywhere out there that talks about it from in my age group, you know, instead of it being maybe 50 plus say. So that's my first question. And then obviously my second, and my second question is around supplements. Now I've got a three year old, you know, I go shopping for my family. I don't necessarily want to be doing different meals and things like that. I don't have the time, but I didn't know if there was any supplements that I could take. And a lot of people say magnesium is good and, and others, or if there's any brands that I may be able to.
00:37:52
Speaker
look at and research because HRT obviously isn't something that I can take so yeah that's and I appreciate actually this it's nice to be able to talk to someone about it.
00:38:03
Speaker
Maybe if we can split up between, if you do the, so in terms of help, I think in terms of resources, hemp it, and there's lots of organizations that are out there. And I think it's really important to dispel some of the myths around. It's only happens to people who were kind of in their late forties, early fifties, as you say, um, I don't know of specific groups, but that absolutely will be every time I go into a conversation about menopause, there's people who have the same experience of you, whether it's kind of having to have a kind of history, correct me or whatever at an early age, they're definitely are.
00:38:32
Speaker
people and groups. Um, if you go to Hempit, I'm sure they will point you in the right direction. And the other place is Davina McCall speaks very openly about her metaphors journey. Yeah. via Instagram. So I know that she's done quite a lot of, yeah. Yeah. And a lot of the places that she's linked in with a really good organizations. And I would say they are good places to start. Okay. That would be my, my thought.
00:38:58
Speaker
And then in terms of supplements, and I'm very happy to have a quick chat afterwards, it definitely depends on what what sort of diet you're having anyway. It's maybe we have a quick five minutes and just go, because you you might not need all of them. But my top definitely would be to look at your magnesium. Vitamin D is one that everyone in the room should be taking at the moment because that sun has gone. Well, let's go. It's all summer. But even when it's, you know october you know, September through to March, April, we probably all need to look at taking that.
00:39:24
Speaker
um And then calcium, you need the vitamin D and calcium together to help you absorb and use the magnesium and calcium properly. They're the ones I'd look at. And then those isoflavones that I spoke about before, you can take those if you don't think you're getting enough soy food. But let's have a quick five minutes because if you've got lots of that in your diet, probably don't need to do all of them. Okay. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you.
00:39:48
Speaker
For people working in the office, but for us now we are more on the front of the line. We don't really have all this information. So how can we get more involved or we can get more information involved in some way? So, I mean, it's definitely one of my challenges because most of our business do not work in an office in front of a computer. I would say that your line manager is the first point of call. If you're in Back to the Story, give me a shout. The RISE, the Employee Resource Group, WOW, Ways of Wellbeing, that group as well, who have access to mental health first aiders and menopause champions.
00:40:23
Speaker
For us, it is a challenge in our industry because people are out and about to make sure that you can get the information in the right way. It's definitely something that from a comms point of view, I know the team are working on as well.
00:40:34
Speaker
to make it easier. But if in doubt, contact HR, contact your line manager, reach out to an ERG, I would say, and then we can signpost you in the right direction. In terms of some of the stuff that's coming down the line from Back to Story, we've got some new e-learning on protected characteristics that's coming, and there will be signposting as part of that. So as long as you do your e-learning, you will also have um clear signposting as part of that. So what we're trying to do is to have different kind of channels and mechanisms so that we can make people aware and raise awareness.
00:41:02
Speaker
so i think yeah so If you don't feel safe or you you're embarrassed, which, you know, I don't know what the relationship is like. That's why menopause champions are a great route. There's also, from our point of view, speak up, which is a confidential line, which is looked at every single day. If you put a question in there to say, I'm experiencing perimenopause, I don't know what support is available, then you will get all sorts of information sent to you that way. So that's why we're trying to have a like a different combination and a different approach. And I would say the training sessions as well that the menopause champions are running that again is a really great environment. to Yeah, so to go on the court and this is about kind of getting the message out there and people knowing that actually there is quite a lot available and we need to make sure it gets into your hands and. Alright.
00:41:57
Speaker
Thank you, Lizzie, Vanessa, and Lindsay, and thanks more to the other one.