For many years I have been studying what women understand about menopause and what support they need. Over the last two years, I have been working with a team at University College London to explore how best to provide this education and support. The team includes Dr Shema Tariq, Dr Nicky Keay, Florence Rowe and Polly Van Alstyne. We have called this project InTune – because we want women to be InTune with their menopause, InTune with their bodies, and InTune with each other. Last year, I published a blog introducing the project (https://joyceharper.com/menopause-education/). This work is in partnership with Wellbeing of Women and the Sophia Forum and has support from the British Menopause Society and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
To recap, my research has shown that many women have no idea what could happen during menopause. The first survey I conducted in 2021 asked women over 40 about their knowledge and attitudes towards menopause, and over 3,000 women took part. The results were striking: the majority of women felt not informed at all about perimenopause symptoms, and only about a third had some knowledge. Many had suffered for years with symptoms they did not realise were due to the perimenopause—and neither did their doctors. We gave participants a list of 52 potential menopause symptoms and were surprised to find that hot flushes ranked only 20th, while night sweats came in at 10th. It was the psychological symptoms—such as mood swings, brain fog, poor concentration, irritability, and anxiety—that topped the list. At that time, discussion of these symptoms was only just beginning. A decade ago, the psychological symptoms of perimenopause were rarely mentioned, and even the clinicians involved in our project were surprised that hot flushes ranked so low. See the links at the end to these papers.
The second survey I did focused on women under 40 to understand their perceptions of menopause, and the results were just as concerning: almost 80% felt not informed at all about menopause. I have put a link to this paper at the end of this blog.
And with the theme of this years World Menopause Day being lifestyle medicine – I wanted to remind you about my paper on the benefits of cold water swimming for menstruation and menopause symptoms – see below for access to the paper. It is not everyone’s thing – but it can be beneficial for those who love it.
Considering that all women are going to go through menopause – the results from my research were really worrying.
Over the last two years, our UCL team has been working hard to develop two education programmes, drawing on insights from our research. We ran two workshops which were hugely informative. The data from our first InTune survey is just about to be published. And we are analysing the data from our focus groups and will let you know when this is published.
The first programme, Be Prepared for Menopause, is a two-hour session open to everyone. It features 18 short videos from UK leaders in menopause, covering what menopause is, its symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, lifestyle factors, and life after menopause. Speakers include: Geeta Kumar, Nicky Keay, Haitham Hamoda, Nitu Bejekal, Juliet Balfour, Karen Newby, Lavina Mehta, Neil Stanley, Annice Mukerjee, Melanie Davies, Vikram Talaulikar, Myra Hunter, Nighat Arif, Kate Codrington, Pat Duckworth, Rachel Lankester and Bukky Ayoade. The session is highly interactive, encouraging participants to discuss how they can prepare for menopause. So far, live events have taken place in Saffron Walden, London, Edinburgh, Brighton, and Cookham. If you would like this event offered in your area, please get in touch with me. We plan to host online sessions soon.
The second programme, Be Supported Through Menopause, is designed for those in perimenopause who are experiencing symptoms and need more in-depth knowledge and support. It will cover the same topics as Be Prepared for Menopause, but in much greater detail, with peer support at its core. It’s powerful for women to share their experiences and learn together. Developing this programme is complex, as we need to train facilitators and co-design a robust, inclusive educational model. Dr Shema Tariq is leading a large grant application to secure funding for its development.
We want both of our educational programmes to ideally be free.
At the heart of this project are co-design and inclusivity. Through our work, we have seen how varied women’s menopause experiences are. We have heard from women with early menopause, surgical menopause, and those who are neurodivergent, disabled, gender and sexually diverse, as well as those from different cultural backgrounds. In 2026, we plan to establish support groups to help everyone navigate their perimenopause journey.
Also in 2026, we aim to launch a website to host our videos, webinars, and panel discussions, and to direct everyone to evidence-based information about menopause.
We are delighted that this year’s World Menopause Day theme is lifestyle medicine. On 15 October, in partnership with Wellbeing of Women, we hosted an online panel discussion on Thriving Through Menopause: The Power of Lifestyle. The panel included Professor Chris van Tulleken (nutrition), Dr Nerina Ramlakhan (sleep), Professor Aimee Spector (mental health), and Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple (exercise). Shema updated on InTune and my co-host was Nighat Arif. You can watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PugVpd_bK_4
We want everyone to Be Prepared for Menopause and Be Supported through Menopause.
Links to our papers – click on the DOI for open access
Harper, J. C., Phillips, S., Biswakarma, R., Yasmin, E., Saridogan, E., Radhakrishnan, S., . . . Talaulikar, V. (2022). An online survey of perimenopausal women to determine their attitudes and knowledge of the menopause. Women’s Health, 18, 1-18. doi:10.1177/17455057221106890
Tariq, B., Phillips, S., Biswakarma, R. et al. Women’s knowledge and attitudes to the menopause: a comparison of women over 40 who were in the perimenopause, post menopause and those not in the peri or post menopause. BMC Women’s Health 23, 460 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-023-02424-x
Munn, C., Vaughan, L., Talaulikar, V., Davies, M. C., & Harper, J. C. (2022). Menopause knowledge and education in women under 40: Results from an online survey. Women’s Health, 18. doi:10.1177/17455057221139660
Aljumah, R., Phillips, S., & Harper, J. C. (2023). An online survey of postmenopausal women to determine their attitudes and knowledge of the menopause. Post Reprod Health, 20533691231166543-?. doi:10.1177/20533691231166543
Pound M, Massey H, Roseneil S, et al. How do women feel cold water swimming affects their menstrual and perimenopausal symptoms? Post Reproductive Health. 2024;30(1):11-27. doi:10.1177/20533691241227100
Ray E, Maybin JA, Harper JC. Perimenopausal women’s voices: How does their period at the end of reproductive life affect wellbeing? Post Reprod Health. 2023 Dec;29(4):201-221. doi: 10.1177/20533691231216162.
Harper J, Keay N, Rowe F, Alstyne PV, Tariq S. The time has come for a UK-wide menopause education and support programme: InTune. Women’s Health. 2024;20. doi:10.1177/17455057241277535
Harper JC, Keay N, Mir M, Mukherjee A, Plumb J, Kumar G, Lindsay J, Barratt J, Strachan S, Tariq S. ‘Simply do it.’: Results from an online questionnaire to inform a community-based menopause education and support programme in the UK, InTune. Post Reprod Health. 2025 doi: 10.1177/20533691251372818
InTune World Menopause Day Panel Discussions
2024 Understanding HRT – https://youtu.be/H3WfTl4Tulg
2025 Lifestyle Medicine – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PugVpd_bK_4
My menopause related podcasts
Check out my podcast – Why didn’t anyone tell me this? on all aspects of our health. Below I have highlighted the podcasts on menopause. Available on all channels or access on www.joyceharper.com/podcasts
Amanda Thebe – Navigating the Wild West of Menopause
Sheree Hargreaves – primary ovarian insufficiency
Bukky Ayoade – Your vibrant midlife
Dr Stella Duffy – What is it like to be postmenopausal?
Kate Codrington – Second Spring
Susan Saunders – How to age well
Rachel Lankaster – Magnificent midlife
Mr Vikram Talaulikar : A clinician’s perspective on current menopause treatment
Professor Isaac Manyonda: Menopause and HRT – medicalising a natural transition or addressing a vast unmet need in women’s health!?
Prof Susan Davis – Making sense of the menopause
Dr Nighat Arif – The knowledge – your guide to female health from menstruation to menopause
Dr Jen Gunter – From vagina bible to menopause manifesto
Karen Newby – The natural menopause method
Jo Moseley – The joy of post menopause
Dr Annice Mukherjee – The menopause toolkit
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