Experiences and Barriers to Perimenopause and Menopause Support in Tower Hamlets
Project Background
Perimenopause and menopause are life stages that are often ignored and not talked about. The symptoms can be varied, and for many, they can be severe enough to disrupt social and work life, making it difficult to carry out normal routines. Many need help and support during this transition, yet barriers such as language differences, cultural beliefs, and a lack of awareness can prevent people from reaching out.
The opening of the Women’s Health Hub at the Mile End Hospital has made it easier for women to access specialist help for women’s health conditions, such as menopause. However, our preliminary engagement with residents and partners on menopause at the Women’s Health event at Bethnal Green Library in July 2025 clearly evidenced that more work is needed to raise awareness of menopause and remove barriers.
In combination with a lack of recent local research on people’s experiences of perimenopause and menopause support, this led us to conclude that it was important to engage with residents about their experiences and how support can be improved to make it more accessible.
Methodology
Feedback was collected over 4 months from October 2025 to January 2026 through online and in-person engagement with residents. To ensure a comprehensive understanding of their experiences, HWTH coordinated engagement activities, including:
Stakeholder engagement – Collaboration with local organisations to raise awareness of the project and participation.
Online survey and in-person interviews – Structured feedback collection through an online survey and a paper version for in-person interviews.
In-person and online group sessions – Informal discussions with individuals currently experiencing perimenopause or menopause symptoms or having gone through menopause.
In total, we collected feedback and demographic data from 113 people using our survey. In addition, we attended two group sessions with approximately 20 Bangladeshi women, who shared their experiences of menopause during informal discussions. We did not collect demographic information from the women.
Key Findings and Recommendations
Recommendation 1: Improve information sharing on perimenopause and menopause to raise awareness
Many people we spoke with were unsure if the symptoms they were experiencing were related to perimenopause or menopause. 27% of respondents told us that lack of knowledge of perimenopause and menopause had prevented them from accessing support, and 35% told us that having access to more information and educational resources would help them. Respondents told us that learning about symptoms would prompt them to seek help sooner, and knowing what support is available locally would help them to navigate the system. Regarding the best ways to share information, most people (36%) suggested sharing it at GP practices or other healthcare settings, such as pharmacies or women’s health clinics. 33% of respondents suggested printed media such as leaflets and posters, and 32% suggested digital media, such as social media.
Co-producing a localised campaign with professionals and residents with lived experience to provide information about menopause in digital and print formats, and promoting it in GP practices, community settings, and on social media will help raise awareness with the wider public. Additionally, the campaign should include short educational videos and details of how to access further information about perimenopause and menopause. The campaign should also include translated copies of posters and leaflets, as well as educational videos, in community languages such as Bengali and Somali.
Recommendation 2: Menopause specialists to deliver educational talks and workshops to community groups and organisations
32% of the respondents to our survey also mentioned community outreach as an effective method of raising awareness of perimenopause and menopause. Most people said that the community outreach should involve educational workshops and talks led by health care professionals specialising in menopause, and some suggested more informal peer support groups. In addition, during our engagement activities to collect feedback for this project, we received many requests to deliver information sessions and were asked questions about symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.
While delivering a digital and printed information campaign will help raise awareness amongst the wider public, there is also a need to provide educational talks and workshops delivered by trained menopause specialists through community outreach with a more targeted approach. These sessions should also allow participants to ask questions and be signposted to support services. The outreach work should also target organisations that work with people with language barriers, disabilities, and non-binary and transgender people.
Recommendation 3: Improve menopause education and training for front-line health professionals, including GPs, Nurses, and Pharmacists
We found that while many people (51%) had positive experiences with healthcare professionals who provided effective and person-centred support and treatment, this was not always the case. Of the respondents who had consulted a health care professional for their symptoms:
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61% of people from Asian backgrounds had an overall positive experience with a health care professional. This was true for 55% of respondents from Black and 50% from White backgrounds.
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51% reported feeling listened to by the health care professional, but 45% felt somewhat listened to or not at all.
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33% felt that the health care professional was very well-informed about menopause. However, 52% felt they were somewhat informed or uninformed.
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35% of respondents with a disability reported a negative experience with a healthcare professional compared to 21% of people with no disability.
The negative experiences with health professionals by the respondents were commonly related to dismissive attitudes, lack of knowledge of perimenopause and menopause symptoms, treatment options, and not receiving care and treatment that considered their specific needs and circumstances. There was also variation in the quality of care received from health care professionals, including multiple appointments with different providers, leading to delays in receiving appropriate care and treatment.
Therefore, we recommend that GPs, nurses, pharmacists and other front-line health professionals should be provided with more education and training on menopause, symptom management and treatment. This could involve educational toolkits, such as the British Menopause Society Principles and Practice of Menopause Care Resources Toolkit1, which provides information on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for identifying and managing menopause, the benefits and risks of HRT, and alternative treatment options to HRT. The training should also include advice on best practices for cultural sensitivity; disability, non-binary and transgender-inclusive practices; and signposting to community support groups in Tower Hamlets.
