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    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 Patricia
    During 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.
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    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, Mary
    The 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.
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    The perceived value of women's unpaid work : as experienced by eight New Zealand women born between 1922 and 1946 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Women's Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1998) Cave, June
    At some time in their lives, most New Zealand women have undertaken unpaid work either in the home or in the community. Much of women's unpaid work is concerned with caring and nurturing. Women undertake the major share of child rearing, caring for sick and elderly relatives both within the home and in the community and emotional work within their family. Women also undertake most of the unpaid household maintenance in the home, from domestic labour to decision making and budgeting. Many women act as helpmeet to their husbands in support of their careers. A large proportion of women's unpaid work is connected with both informal and formal voluntary work in the community. There is no question that this work is valuable, as it is critical to the New Zealand economy. However, many women believe that this work is not always valued by male partners, government policy makers, and in some cases, the women themselves. In certain contexts, this work is valued more than in others. And at certain periods of time this work has been valued more than at other times. The method chosen for this research was a modified form of the grounded theory approach developed by Glaser and Strauss, as outlined by Kirby and McKenna (1989). The data was collected by conducting qualitative interviews with eight New Zealand women between fifty and seventy years of age. The interviewees were encouraged to relate their experiences of unpaid work and to reflect on their mothers' and daughters' experiences of unpaid work. The women in this study had much in common, in that they had all been married, had adult children, and had undertaken a variety of unpaid work both within the home and in the community. However, along with the commonalities, there were differences. Six of the women were Pakeha and two were Maori. The twenty year age range among the women, meant that they experienced different economic and historical events. Some of the women came from a higher than average socio-economic level than others and some married into a higher socio-economic level. The thesis records the interviewees' experiences of unpaid work in their own words, and analyses the data in order to discover whether this work is valued, by whom, in what context, and how over time the evaluation of this work has changed. This study seeks to show how women's experiences of unpaid work, both in the home and in the community, have been valued, by whom, in what context and whether this evaluation has changed over time. Four specific areas are explored - the expectation that women will carry out the major proportion of unpaid work in the home and in the community - monetary reward for work compared with unpaid work - the sharing of unpaid work either in the home or in the community - and status gained through unpaid work. Because these women reflect on their own mothers' and daughters' experiences of unpaid work, it is possible to identify the changes which have occurred over this time, in the evaluation of women's unpaid work.
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    Factors which contribute to successful job change for women aged in their fifties : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Women's Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Finnie, Pamela; Finnie, Pamela
    Demographics show that older New Zealanders are in better health and living for longer. Women aged in their 50s in paid employment make up ten percent of the New Zealand population in paid work (Statistics New Zealand, 2010). As there is no compulsory retirement age and the government superannuation entitlement age may increase, these women may not want to, or perhaps financially cannot, stop work. Privileging of youth and negative stereotypes of older workers combine to further position women aged in their 50s on the margins within the paid workforce. This has significant implications for women in this age group who, for whatever reason, seek to change their employment. The question addressed in this research was what factors contribute to successful job change for women aged in their 50s. Five main themes were identified in the literature review: the workforce is ageing; people are remaining actively involed in the world of work for longer; the world of work is constantly changing; the meaning of career success has changed; and traditional career planning is no longer relevant. Underpinned by a feminist framework, this research used semi-structured interviews with six women who had made a self-defined successful job change. Rather than a one-size-fits-all model for effective job change for women in this age group, the study revealed the participants used a range of effective job-change strategies. The identified strategies include ensuring that their skills were updated and relevant and the participants not necessarily seeing their age as a barrier. However contradictory subjectivies were evidenced through some participants being influenced by ageist stereotypes. As well as displaying career resilience, through exercising some degree of agency, participants also looked for and had developed the skills to take advantage of opportunities. This research has confirmed that further study into the embedded nature of ageism by employers and older female works themselves is needed and that the issues around age, agency and ageism is an area for further feminist theorisation.