KLAR – women's health, menopause and working life
Seminar presenters: Associate Professor Inger Haukenes and Professor Silje Mæland. Seminar hosted by the Center for Research on Women's Heart Disease.
Each year, approximately 27,500 Norwegian women enter menopause, and around 30% of them experience significant health issues that reduce their quality of life and work capacity. These symptoms may include depression, musculoskeletal pain, sleep disturbances, headaches, general fatigue, reduced lung capacity, and severe hot flashes. Such symptoms are often categorized as non-specific and contribute substantially to women's sick leave and disability pension.
There is limited research on women's menopause and a lack of knowledge both among women themselves and within the healthcare system. This knowledge gap can result in symptoms not being recognized as menopause-related, leading to misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment, and the perception that these are vague female complaints women simply have to live with.
The Norwegian Official Report on women's health (NOU) highlights the need for more research to determine the role menopausal symptoms play in women's withdrawal from the workforce at this stage of life. It also calls for more studies on the impact of menopause on women's physical and mental health, and how menopause is experienced by women in different socioeconomic positions. Furthermore, there is a need for increased understanding of the relationship between menopause, sick leave, and workforce exit among women.
Associate Professor Inger Haukenes divides her time between academic work at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Bergen (UiB), and the General Practice Research Unit at NORCE. Her research focuses on women's health, gender perspectives on social security, and the importance of intersectionality in research on sustainable work participation. She leads the research group Work, Health and Gender, and heads the registry-based Research Council of Norway project The Norwegian GP-DEP study, which investigates how general practitioners and their follow-up of patients with depression can support sustainable work participation.
Professor Silje Mæland combines academic research with work in knowledge clusters. She is a professor at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen. Her expertise lies in research on work and health, and she chairs the National Advisory Board for Work and Health. Mæland leads the Professional Forum at Alrek Health Cluster and heads the research and development groups in both the Sports Cluster West and the Sunnaas Foundation.
She also leads the research project Bergen in Change – the COVID-19 study, a collaborative initiative within the Alrek Health Cluster