Policies, Guidelines, and Practices Supporting Women’s Menstruation, Menstrual Disorders and Menopause at Work: A Critical Global Scoping Review

Howe, D; Duffy, S; O’Shea, M; Hawkey, A; Wardle, J; Gerontakos, S; Steele, L; Gilbert, E; Owen, L; Ciccia, D; Cox, E; Redmond, R; Armour, M

Policies, Guidelines, and Practices Supporting Women’s Menstruation, Menstrual Disorders and Menopause at Work: A Critical Global Scoping Review

Howe, D Duffy, S O’Shea, M Hawkey, A Wardle, J

Gerontakos, S Steele, L

Gilbert, E Owen, L Ciccia, D Cox, E Redmond, R Armour, M

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Publisher:: MDPI
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Healthcare, 11, (22), pp. 2945

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Howe, D
dc.contributor.author	Duffy, S
dc.contributor.author	O’Shea, M
dc.contributor.author	Hawkey, A
dc.contributor.author	Wardle, J https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8813-3542
dc.contributor.author	Gerontakos, S
dc.contributor.author	Steele, L https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6944-7888
dc.contributor.author	Gilbert, E
dc.contributor.author	Owen, L
dc.contributor.author	Ciccia, D
dc.contributor.author	Cox, E
dc.contributor.author	Redmond, R
dc.contributor.author	Armour, M
dc.date.accessioned	2023-11-20T23:00:39Z
dc.date.available	2023-11-20T23:00:39Z
dc.identifier.citation	Healthcare, 11, (22), pp. 2945
dc.identifier.issn	2227-9032
dc.identifier.issn	2227-9032
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/173491
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>(1) Objectives: This paper presents a scoping review of global evidence relating to interventions (i.e., policies, practices, guidelines, and legislation) aimed at supporting women to manage menstruation, menstrual disorders, and menopause at work. (2) Methods: Databases including Medline (Ebsco), CINAHL (Ebsco), Scopus, Web of Science, APA PsychInfo (Ebsco), Humanities International Complete (Ebsco), Academic Search Premier (Ebsco), HeinOnline and OSH Update, and Google Scholar were searched in May 2022. (3) Results: Of 1181 unique articles screened, 66 articles are included. Less half of the articles (42%, 28/66) presented/reviewed an intervention related to women’s workplace health. A total of 55 out of the 66 articles are set across 13 countries with the remaining 12 articles described as multi-country studies or reviews. Half of the articles presenting/reviewing an intervention were grey literature, with several undertaken in UK and EU member countries. Interventions focusing on supporting women with menopause at work were the most common (43%, 12/28), followed by menstruation (25%, 7/28) and menstrual disorders (7%, 2/28). Across the reviewed articles, recommendations were categorised as adjustments to the physical work environment, information and training needs, and policy and processes. Few articles explicitly presented or affirmed a design-process and/or evaluation tied to their intervention. In lieu of design-process, this review categorises the rationales driving the development of an intervention as: pronatalist, economic rationalism, gendered occupational health concern, cultural shift towards gender equity objectives, and efforts to reduced shame and stigma. (4) Conclusions: There is a growing body of evidence aimed at understanding women’s experiences of managing their menstrual and reproductive health in the workplace and how this impacts their work/career trajectories. However, little research is explicitly concerned with exploring or understanding interventions, including their design or evaluation. Most articles report menopause guidelines and are typically confined to the UK and EU-member countries. Despite the prevalence of menstrual disorders (e.g., endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)) there is limited literature focused on how women might be supported to manage symptoms associated with these conditions at work. Accordingly, future policies should consider how women can be better supported to manage menstruation and menstrual disorders at work and recognise the importance of co-design during policy development and post-intervention evaluation. Further research needs to be undertaken on the impact of workplace policies on both employers and employees.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	MDPI
dc.relation.ispartof	Healthcare
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3390/healthcare11222945
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.classification	32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
dc.subject.classification	42 Health sciences
dc.title	Policies, Guidelines, and Practices Supporting Women’s Menstruation, Menstrual Disorders and Menopause at Work: A Critical Global Scoping Review
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	11
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - LHJ - Law Health Justice
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-11-20T23:00:38Z
pubs.issue	22
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	11
utslib.citation.issue	22

Abstract:

(1) Objectives: This paper presents a scoping review of global evidence relating to interventions (i.e., policies, practices, guidelines, and legislation) aimed at supporting women to manage menstruation, menstrual disorders, and menopause at work. (2) Methods: Databases including Medline (Ebsco), CINAHL (Ebsco), Scopus, Web of Science, APA PsychInfo (Ebsco), Humanities International Complete (Ebsco), Academic Search Premier (Ebsco), HeinOnline and OSH Update, and Google Scholar were searched in May 2022. (3) Results: Of 1181 unique articles screened, 66 articles are included. Less half of the articles (42%, 28/66) presented/reviewed an intervention related to women’s workplace health. A total of 55 out of the 66 articles are set across 13 countries with the remaining 12 articles described as multi-country studies or reviews. Half of the articles presenting/reviewing an intervention were grey literature, with several undertaken in UK and EU member countries. Interventions focusing on supporting women with menopause at work were the most common (43%, 12/28), followed by menstruation (25%, 7/28) and menstrual disorders (7%, 2/28). Across the reviewed articles, recommendations were categorised as adjustments to the physical work environment, information and training needs, and policy and processes. Few articles explicitly presented or affirmed a design-process and/or evaluation tied to their intervention. In lieu of design-process, this review categorises the rationales driving the development of an intervention as: pronatalist, economic rationalism, gendered occupational health concern, cultural shift towards gender equity objectives, and efforts to reduced shame and stigma. (4) Conclusions: There is a growing body of evidence aimed at understanding women’s experiences of managing their menstrual and reproductive health in the workplace and how this impacts their work/career trajectories. However, little research is explicitly concerned with exploring or understanding interventions, including their design or evaluation. Most articles report menopause guidelines and are typically confined to the UK and EU-member countries. Despite the prevalence of menstrual disorders (e.g., endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)) there is limited literature focused on how women might be supported to manage symptoms associated with these conditions at work. Accordingly, future policies should consider how women can be better supported to manage menstruation and menstrual disorders at work and recognise the importance of co-design during policy development and post-intervention evaluation. Further research needs to be undertaken on the impact of workplace policies on both employers and employees.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/173491