Menopausal complaints are an important cause of the high absenteeism rate among women over 45. That is unnecessary, say former gynaecologists Wilma Smit and Pauline Ottervanger. ‘Engage in a conversation and break the taboo surrounding the transition.’
A short fuse, difficulty concentrating, mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, high blood pressure, forgetfulness, migraines, lability, extreme fatigue… the menopause manifests itself as an uninvited guest in many guises.
Schagen and The Hague
Wilma Smit and Pauline Ottervanger stood at the cradle of the menopause clinics in their hospitals and wrote several books about the transition. Their message: take the transition seriously as an organization and do something about it! Hence their information meetings for municipalities. The first municipalities have now registered, Schagen and The Hague.
HR-managers
The CNV has put the transition back on the social agenda. The union already published a survey at the beginning of last year and again last spring. The outcome was the same: the majority of the women surveyed find the combination of work and transition difficult and notice that the subject is taboo in the workplace. Thousands of HR managers were also surveyed this year. The fact that menopausal complaints are an important cause of absenteeism was new to most. It is high time to make the subject a topic for discussion throughout the organisation, according to the CNV. Let that be the mission of Wilma Smit and Pauline Ottervanger.
Depression
Pauline: ‘The renewed focus on the transition is urgently needed. Two million working women are in the transitional age. Their absenteeism is high, but their complaints are not recognized as menopausal complaints. They are then wrongly diagnosed with depression or burnout. That’s bad. And it causes unnecessary outages.’
Wilma: ‘To start with, it should become normal that all organizations with women on the payroll have the “transition” as an item and do something with it. For example, by organizing regular information meetings for female employees or by offering them an appointment with a menopausal nurse consultant. A menopause consultant takes the time to map out all complaints, gives good advice – sometimes that is enough – and can estimate whether a visit to the GP is necessary. And don’t forget the male managers in the information. They often ask us: don’t women think it’s weird if I mention the menopause? On the contrary. Most women would be happy with that!’
Threshold
Pauline: ‘A manager who shows understanding in an individual conversation removes a barrier for a woman to raise possible problems at work due to the transition.’
Wilma: ‘It can feel like a weakness for a woman to bring it up. Although she forgets that the environment also suffers if she sighs permanently, has a short fuse, is often ill or makes a lot of mistakes. Menopausal complaints don’t just make life miserable for women themselves. If they no longer function properly, it costs society a lot of money. So prevent someone from getting sick for a long time or even dropping out. In the hospitals, for example, this was solved by having the women temporarily work in another department.’ According to her, this is also possible at the office. ‘Look at someone’s activities and working hours, and whether a different task package or schedule is possible.’
Read the full article in this week’s Domestic Governance No. 11