Funding outcome

Walking is a low cost physical activity that is accessible to the majority of women. Walking can produce cardiovascular, mental & other health benefits. We hypothesize that walking will improve menopause & sleep-related quality of life (QOL) for women with other illnesses who suffer from symptoms in the menopause transition period, such as those women attending the Edmonton menopause clinics. A review we conducted of research on the effect of walking programs on menopause sleep problems identified 6 relevant studies in healthy women: 3 found improvement in sleep and 3 claimed no change. Walking programs with more exercise & over a longer time were associated with improved outcomes. Our long-term goal is to develop a study, to be based at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women Menopause Clinic, to look at the effect of a walking program for women with menopause and other illnesses. The CRISP grant will allow us to carry out the following work to help us design that research: (1) Identify characteristics of successful walking programs - Using published papers, we shall identify the characteristics of the most successful walking programs (eg, goals, walking intensity & duration, length of program). (2) Environmental scan - a survey of walking programs and facilities available in Edmonton that would be suitable for mature women. (3) Focus groups with menopausal women - women will be asked what characteristics would make a walking program acceptable to them. (4) We shall test the acceptability and ease of use of small wearable devices (accelerometers) for measuring activity and quality of sleep - focus group participants will each use an accelerometer for 7 days/nights. Results from this preliminary work will be used to develop a study of the effect of a walking program on menopause and sleep-related QOL (measured using standardised QOL questionnaires), to be carried out in Edmonton's menopause clinics.