Improving communication about menopause for women from South Asian backgrounds

We have previously worked with women from South Asian backgrounds to explore their research priorities, which were largely about menopause. Women reported how they rarely discuss it with each other. They worried that younger women were poorly informed and that the lack of discussion led to stigma and shame.

In further patient and public involvement (PPI) work with other women from South Asian backgrounds, women highlighted how menopause is also not discussed with men and that speaking to GPs about it is difficult. In preparing this application, we informally searched for previous research that focussed on this but found very little and nothing focusing specifically on communication about menopause for South Asian women. Based on this and our substantial PPI work, our research will focus on communication issues about menopause for South Asian women. The research will be guided by two South Asian PPI co-applicants and a PPI group involving South Asian women.

We will conduct a scoping review to help us find existing research on South Asian women’s experiences and communication about menopause. We will group the research papers we find to show what is known already and to highlight gaps that future research could look into.  Next, we will conduct interviews and focus groups with South Asian women experiencing menopause. We will include women of different South Asian backgrounds, socioeconomic status and age, across England, who were born here or who moved here, including new immigrants. We will recruit from areas with varied South Asian communities (e.g., Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, London). Recruitment will be supported through several organisations, including the charity, South Asian Health Action.

Data will be collected by female researchers who speak a range of South Asian languages and can translate it for analysis. Employing female researchers was highlighted as important during our PPI work, to ensure women feel able to speak freely without feeling shame or stigma. Data will be analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), which requires all members of the research team to think about their perceptions of the research topic (menopause) and ensure they do not affect our analysis or how the women’s experiences are presented. It also gives us a structured process for analysing data, helping us to include all perspectives and present a thorough analysis.

We will host a workshop to bring together GPs and South Asian women to discuss the key messages and how they can be communicated widely to GPs. We will create an animation to share the findings with South Asian women. It will be voiced-over in multiple South Asian languages and published on a range of accessible websites, including the award-winning health information charity, healthtalk.org. We will also publish papers in academic journals.

Amount awarded: £198,495