Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
12 results
Search Results
Item Amplifying Women's Voices in Menopause Research: The Importance of Inclusive Perspectives(John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2025-02) Cronin C; Donevant S; Hughes K-A; Kaunonen M; Marcussen J; Wilson RMenopause, a significant life transition for half the global population, intersects biological, cultural and social dimensions. Despite its universal occurrence, menopause research has historically been dominated by biomedical perspectives, often neglecting women's voices and diverse experiences. This article highlights the importance of including women's perspectives in menopause research to ensure relevance, accuracy and equity. It explores cultural variations in menopause experiences, the impact of socioeconomic status and the often-overlooked emotional and psychological dimensions. This article advocates for participatory approaches, emphasising that women's involvement enhances research design, implementation and policy development. Evidence-based interventions that are tailored to the individual can better address the diverse needs of menopausal women. The discussion extends to addressing health disparities, calling for inclusive research and policies to ensure equitable access to care. Ultimately, empowering women through co-designed research and inclusive policies can transform the menopause journey into an enriching life phase, promoting resilience and inclusivity across communities. This paradigm shift in menopause research and policy highlights the need for diversity, collaboration and evidence-based approaches to improve health outcomes and quality of life for all women. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This article has been informed by a menopause service user group who discuss their experiences of menopause. The group was formed because of initial qualitative research and now meet on a regular basis to co-design and co-produce activities that inform ongoing research for the menopause taskforce.Item Exploring digital interventions to facilitate coping and discomfort for nurses experiencing the menopause in the workplace: An international qualitative study.(John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2023-05-09) Cronin C; Bidwell G; Carey J; Donevant S; Hughes K-A; Kaunonen M; Marcussen J; Wilson RINTRODUCTION: The global nursing workforce is predominantly female, with a large proportion working in the 45-55 age group. Menopause is a transition for all women, and; therefore needs recognition as it can impact work performance and consequently staff turnover. BACKGROUND: Women will go through the menopause, but not all women are affected. The menopause transition presents a range of signs and symptoms both physical and psychological which can impact the quality of life and individuals' work/life balance. The nursing workforce is predominantly women that will work through the menopause transition. OBJECTIVES: The study explored perspectives on digital health interventions as strategies to support menopausal women and to understand the requirements for designing health interventions for support in the workplace. DESIGN: A qualitative explorative design. SETTINGS: Nurses working in a range of clinical settings in England, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia and USA. METHODS: Nurses (n = 48) participated in focus groups from six different countries from February 2020-June 2022 during the pandemic from a range of acute, primary care and education settings. Nurses were invited to participate to share their experiences. Thematic analysis was used. RESULTS: All participants were able to describe the physical symptoms of menopause, with some cultural and possible hemisphere differences; more noticeable was the psychological burden of menopause and fatigue that is not always recognized. Four themes were identified: Managing symptoms in the workplace; Recognition in the workplace; Menopause interventions; and Expectation versus the invisible reality. These themes revealed information that can be translated for implementation into digital health interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Managers of nursing female staff in the menopausal age range need greater awareness, and menopause education should involve everyone. Finally, our results demonstrate design attributes suitable for inclusion in digital health strategies that are aligned with likely alleviation of some of the discomforts of menopause. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.Item Women's decision making process about hormone replacement therapy in the New Zealand context : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 2003) Radford, Wendy LenaThe transitional time of menopause has differential meanings for mid-aged women around the world. The medicalisation of menopause has resulted in the increasing promotion of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) both to alleviate distressing symptoms and prevent future illnesses. It is against a background of constantly changing information that women have to make a complex decision about the benefits and risks of this therapy for short and long term use. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1985) has been successful in predicting a range of health behaviours but few studies have been conducted to assess its predictive validity on intention to take HRT and to date there has been no assessment of this model in the New Zealand context. The present study was undertaken to discover the factors that influenced decision making about HRT use in New Zealand and to predict women's intention to take it at menopause by applying the TPB. A cross sectional postal survey of 140 mid-aged women randomly selected from the General and Māori electoral rolls measured attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control as well as moral norms and similar prior behaviour. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported the utility of the TPB to predict intention to use HRT and also showed that moral norms made a significant independent contribution to the prediction of intention to use HRT. The most important factors that influence New Zealand women's intention to use HRT are both the views of people who are important to them and their own attitudes to this treatment. Having a personal sense of control over following the HRT regime and believing it is right to do so and not a sign of weakness are also important considerations. Taking the contraceptive pill in the past has no influence on the decision making process about future HRT use.Item New Zealand women's preference for treatment decision-making when considering hormone replacement therapy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 2002) McLellan, TraceyThe menopause phase has increasingly been defined as a deficiency disease amenable to treatment. The main medical treatment for menopause is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). At present very little is known about how New Zealand women make their decisions regarding HRT. What is known is that the medical information concerning HRT is uncertain and doctors are an important factor in the decision-making process. Recent research has shown that there is much dissatisfaction with the service doctors are providing New Zealand women. Much of this dissatisfaction may result from the mismatch of decision-making styles between doctors and women. Accordingly it was necessary to investigate the style preferences of New Zealand women. The aim of the present study was to test the Charles, Gafni & Whelan (1999) theoretical framework for treatment decision-making on New Zealand women considering HRT. The present study seeks to identify three distinct styles of decision-making preference and investigate whether the style preferences are maintained throughout the entire process. One hundred and forty-eight mid-aged women were surveyed about their decisional style preferences. The measure used was designed specifically for the present study and was unique with regard to incorporating stages within the decision-making process. The Charles et al. (1999) framework was found to be an appropriate model for conceptualising the decision-making context of HRT. Support was also found for the dynamic nature of treatment decision-making proposed by Charles et al. (1999) as the three main styles were also found to be amenable to change. The Charles et al. (1999) framework could be a useful educational and assessment tool for doctors and women. Future research is needed to replicate the results of the present study.Item Hormone replacement therapy use and everyday memory in mid-aged New Zealand women : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 2000) Hamilton, Yolande MThere continues to be inconsistent evidence as to the extent that Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) may preserve memory performance in menopausal women. The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test-Extended Version (RBMT-E) is a new measure of everyday memory developed for normal populations. The RBMT-E was used to test the everyday memory in a sample of 104 mid-aged New Zealand women (53 HRT users & 51 non-users). Measures of mood, affect, stress, general health and menopausal symptoms as well as age and education were also taken to control for possible confounds. Results showed significant differences (p< 0.5) between the groups for three sub-tests: 'Story Immediate', 'Story Delayed', and 'Message Delayed'. After calculation of a total profile score and adjustments for age and IQ, HRT users scored more highly than non HRT users on the RBMT-E overall measure of Everyday Memory. Conclusions suggest that HRT use does show a relationship with verbal memory, and that the potentially beneficial effect may assist in the performance of everyday memory tasks.Item Menopause, mood and memory : the effect of hormone replacement therapy on mood and everyday memory in mid-life women : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 2001) Bristow, Virginia MargaretThere is considerable neuro-scientific evidence that oestrogen influences memory and enhances mood because of its influence on brain mechanisms. Research on the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on both mood and memory is equivocal although findings indicate that oestrogen may enhance verbal memory. It has been suggested that this area of research should expand to include ecologically valid measures of everyday memory. This study examined the effect of HRT on mood and everyday memory in two separate samples of mid-life women. A cross-sectional comparison of HRT users and non-users among 124 women aged between 40 and 60 years showed that there were no significant differences in mood between HRT users and non-users. However, HRT users performed significantly better on tests of everyday memory and delayed verbal memory when the effects of age, IQ, and education were controlled for. A within-subjects comparison, using the same measures, with 17 women before, and 3 months after, HRT use, showed that negative mood states were reduced and positive mood states were enhanced by HRT, when change in stressful life events, self-rated health, sleep problems, vasomotor symptoms, and exercise were controlled for. The longitudinal sample also showed that everyday memory, working memory, and delayed verbal memory improved with HRT use. The improvement in memory was not mediated by mood. These results suggest that the effect of HRT on mood may only be short-term but that oestrogen does enhance everyday memory.Item Older women's experiences of menopause : a feminist descriptive study of older women's knowledge and attitudes toward menopause : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing, Massey University(Massey University, 2003) Gracez, TeresaAs a result of improved health breakthroughs, most women can expect to live into their ninth decade. Consequently they will experience several stages of growth and development through which most women from previous centuries never had the opportunity to pass. Maturational changes often bring satisfaction, but the physical and social changes that accompany ageing may encourage some women to seek support and information from nurses. Although women today have more awareness of menopause and access to information and resource than women 30 years ago, it remains difficult for women to understand menopause in a non-contaminated manner. This study brings together the two divergent perspectives on menopause: feminist and biomedical discourses. Feminist discourses most commonly regard menopause as a normal life transition whilst, biomedical models construct menopause as an illness requiring medical treatment. This qualitative descriptive study underpinned by feminist epistemology explores older women's experiences of menopause before menopause came to be perceived to be a problem requiring medical treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten women, aged 70 years and over. Qualitative content analysis in this study resulted in two categories and eight themes of older women's experiences of menopause. The findings in this study indicate that older women perceived menopause to be a 'natural' and 'normal' life developmental stage. Although the women viewed menopause to be a 'normal' passage in life and something that did not require much attention or medical intervention, the majority of women were quick to recommend that today's woman should seek help from menopausal symptoms from medical practitioners. This surprising variation of menopause being accepted as an illness for today's woman but not an illness 30 years ago suggests that the women's thinking has evolved in keeping with the social context they now occupy.Item Universal change-individual responses : women's experience of the menopause and of taking hormone replacement therapy : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Nursing at Massey University(Massey University, 1998) Anderson, MaxineThe purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe and interpret the phenomenon of menopause as experienced by women taking hormone replacement therapy. The study set out to answer the question "What is the experience of taking hormone replacement therapy during the menopause?" The narratives of the ten women who participated in this study provided rich descriptions which revealed some of the ambiguity and silence that has concealed much of this experience. The conclusions of this study are that menopause as an universal event, in human females, is comprised of individual responses which are interpreted within the context of each woman's life. The inevitable-unexpectedness of the menopause, (knowing that it will come) does not prepare the women for the experience. Ways of coping with a changing body are directed by concerns which arise from each woman's societal, family and individual experiences. The findings of this study suggest that the decision to take or not to take HRT is not a definitive one, but the source of an ongoing dilemma. A dilemma caused by the women's desire to cope naturally and their need to regain some control over their bodies and their lives through taking HRT. Underlying the women's decisions is a weighing up of the possible outcomes of taking HRT - to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease, or to increase their chances of developing cancer. The impact of conflicting information from both medical professionals and the press added to the women's concern about their bodies. This manifested itself in the women becoming very watchful of their bodies and taking surreptitious breaks from HRT regimes. For all the freedom and self management promised by HRT, we need to alert ourselves to the possibility that in some way HRT dampens down something that wishes to express itself, but which as yet modern Western society does not accommodate. The central over-riding theme of this study is universal change-individual responses. This is supported by three essential themes: living-with-a-changing-body, being-on-hormone-replacement-therapy and relationships-past-and-present.Item Menopause : women's knowledge sources and management decisions : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing at Massey University(Massey University, 1998) Turia, Desley PatriciaDuring the last two decades the topic of menopause has become more openly discussed as evidenced by the prevalence of items in the popular press as well as research done by health professionals. The information that is published in the popular press is largely orientated towards menopause being a disease and the pharmaceutical interventions needed to correct the disease. Literature published in medical and nursing journals is also predominantly orientated toward menopause being a state of oestrogen deficiency. Increasingly though, nurse researchers and feminist writers are challenging these views of menopause. However, information about menopause is not as openly available as women want it to be. The aim of this research is to discover how women gain knowledge about menopause and how women make decisions about 'managing' their menopause. In this study knowledge is defined as being more than information. Knowledge is the understanding that occurs from the synthesis of all data, about menopause, collected from various sources. It is from the responses of the participants when they are interviewed, and the data analysis using grounded theory that these questions were answered. The population for the study was women aged between 45-55 years of age. They were recruited from my local community via a newspaper advertisement. The sample group included eleven women. The methodology used in this research was Grounded Theory as developed by Glaser and Strauss. Ethical approval was gained from the Massey University Ethics Committee and the Central Health Regional Authority as well as from the participants. The participants were all interviewed once, with two participants being consulted for comment on the findings. The interviews were taped and transcribed. Data collection and analysis occurred concurrently as prescribed by grounded theory. Categories were generated from the data. A descriptive model is presented. This model illustrates that women who have a tertiary level of knowledge and support have the intrinsic qualities needed to be seekers of knowledge about menopause. This group of women, the large majority of the participants, was able to be self-controlling of their own menopause. One of the greatest determinants in being self-controlling was the level of support that women had. A few participants had their menopause controlled by others. However, once adverse effects from the management interventions were experienced, they then gained the abilities to develop partial control of their own menopause. This study has highlighted that it is important for nurses to take every opportunity to educate women about their health as in this study nurses were not seen as possible sources of education about menopause. Limitations of the study as well as recommendations for nursing research, nursing education and future research are included.Item Knowledge of, and attitude to, hormone replacement therapy and menopause among mid-aged New Zealand women : thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 1999) Breheny, MaryThe use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) by women at menopause is increasing in New Zealand, although there are controversies and confusion surrounding its prescription and efficacy. There has been very little research carried out in New Zealand regarding the variables that impact on HRT use by women, and the attitudes and knowledge of women regarding HRT use. To address this, a survey of 495 mid-aged women, randomly selected from the electoral roll was carried out. The survey measured demographic variables, knowledge of HRT, attitudes to HRT and menopause, and health variables.This study found that knowledge of HRT was high, however, many New Zealand women reported reasons for HRT use that are not empirically supported. This study also found that attitudes to HRT and menopause are important predictors of HRT use, possibly more important than health variables. The importance of attitudes in predicting HRT use needs further clarification to allow the promotion of appropriate information to inform mid-aged women's HRT decision making.