Funding outcome

Menopause is a transition period characterized by profound hormonal changes. Due to its largely invisible nature, it is an unmentioned topic in wider society, resulting in women dealing with menopause symptoms primarily on their own. Studies indicate that women undergoing this transition are psychologically more vulnerable and are at a high risk for developing depression and mood disorders. This can be attributed to a number of factors, one, in particular, being inadequate social support. Social support and education have a positive impact on menopausal experiences and result in women experiencing a higher quality of life during menopause. This project aims to assess the level of knowledge of undergraduate and graduate students on menopause and its symptoms through an electronic survey. The survey will be designed using literature, validated menopause questionnaires, and concerns raised by women participating in focus groups through the Menopause Outpatient Clinic. It will be created and distributed through a secure web-based application, Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap). The data will be stratified based on demographics and analyzed by descriptive statistics. We hypothesize the student cohorts to be largely uninformed about menopause, but we hope to address their knowledge gaps by designing specific educational resources that serve as a cost-friendly method to educate and build healthier communities. These resources will help women to be prepared for their own transition, for men to better understand their female partners once they undergo menopause, and for both groups to show compassion and support for female relatives and friends undergoing this change.