New research targets the evidence gaps failing women through perimenopause and beyond
GreenShield and Women's Health Collective Canada (WHCC) have partnered to fund research into how the menopause transition affects women in Canadian workplaces, health care and communities.
The work begins with a national study the two organisations said is the first of its kind in the country.
The partnership's first initiative supports the Researching Information, Support, and Equity During the Menopause Transition in Canada (Can-RISE) study, which the partners describe as the first national investigator-led study dedicated to Canadian women's experience of perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause.
The Partnership for Women's Health Research Canada (PWHR) leads the study, which will examine the health, social and economic effects of the transition.
According to the organizations, the research will focus on equity-deserving populations whose experiences are often left out of current evidence, and will work to identify the gaps, barriers and inequities that shape how menopause is supported across health care, workplaces, and communities.
Amy Flood, executive director of Women's Health Collective Canada, said growing awareness of menopause makes it vital to "build the evidence needed to better understand women's experiences" across perimenopause, menopause and beyond.
That evidence should shape what comes next, she said.
The collaboration, she added, offers a chance to strengthen understanding, elevate women's voices and translate evidence into action.
GreenShield, which describes itself as Canada's only national non-profit health care and insurance organization, said the study builds on its existing women's health work.
The insurer pointed to its Personalized Hormonal Health Program, which it calls Canada's first, and to a women's mental health initiative that it said has connected nearly 200,000 women from equity-deserving communities to free mental health services.
"Improving women's health requires more than awareness, it requires coordinated action across research, care, policy and service delivery," said Mandy Mail, executive vice-president of GreenShield Cares.
Significant evidence gaps remain for women from equity-seeking communities, Mail said, and the partnership draws on research, lived experience and insights from care delivery to inform solutions she described as more equitable, responsive and effective.
Women in Canada who are experiencing or have experienced perimenopause or menopause can take part in the study.
Details on eligibility and participation are available through PWHR.
