Recording: https://vimeo.com/932365190/cca02e094b?share=copy 

Question 1: Trainer approached by someone who attended a recent colleague session and this lady's daughter commenced her periods at 9 years old and is experiencing symptoms including migraines. Limited support from GP and also from School. Is there any information we can help with?

This is likely going to be a common scenario as you deliver menstruation training, as we know that many young people struggle to get help and support with the early experiences of menstruation. We must continue to be careful to keep to signposting to trusted resources and below you can find some resources you might wish to share:

NHS Guidance

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/periods/starting-periods/ 

Charity - Menstrual Health Project - toolkit for under 18's

https://www.menstrualhealthproject.org.uk/_files/ugd/571191_6f8f8a8c4a9245e3a6de14e481ce2833.pdf 

As with adults we can help by encouraging the tracking of symptoms against the menstruation sequence, this will assist when talking to a medical professional, and hopefully aid in further medical support being provided.

If you are working with an education provider and are asked to deliver training to the student body, please advise that this is not something we can provide and that a medical professional is better placed to support young people in this conversation. At this time we are not aware of any providers specific to student bodies.

Question 2:  Supporting contacts to persuade male dominated environments to accept menopause and menstruation training is important.

The business, legal, demographic and social responsibilty cases are important and you have all the information on this however for some this type information may be not the way forward. You can use anecdotes such as the transport company and train driver, which highlights the impact menopause may have on other's within the office. We would suggest you understand from your contact what normally works when encouraging the board to invest in training to support the wellbeing of personnel, maybe it is facts, figures and statistics or maybe it is more emotional appeal. Is there someone else they can speak to who is a decision maker in the organisation?

We were asked if there was any specific examples from accredited members in the finance sector regarding overcoming male obstruction, whilst nothing absolutely specific to this subject of breaking down such barriers to investment in training, I have included below the key aims for a menopause programme as shared with us by a pensions business, very traditional in it's outlook.

• Dispel the stigma around menopause and create an environment where all employees feel comfortable and able to talk about menopause,
• Make it easy for all employees to access information and support that is relevant to them whether experiencing symptoms or not,
• Create a supportive culture where employees experiencing menopause don’t feel the need to step back from career opportunities or leave work.

To achieve their goals, this client considered their whole workforce and their different needs. They knew it wasn’t sufficient to target only colleagues currently impacted by menopause symptoms if they wanted to achieve their aims.