Meanings of Menopause: Cultural Considerations
Course #63505 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
According to the North American Menopause Society, menopause is a natural event that occurs when a woman has missed her menstrual period for 12 consecutive months (not explained by other medical factors). In general, in the United States menopause occurs around the age of 51 years. There are variations across different countries, but in general, the mean ranges between 47 and 50 years of age. This course will review the social constructions and meanings attached to menopause and how this impacts women's experiences of menopause. The emphasis of this course is on the sociocultural and historical context of the menopause. Despite this emphasis, in no way should the biologic and physiologic dimensions and processes of menopause be dismissed. It is important to examine at menopause from an integrative approach, taking into consideration the interaction of the current and past sociocultural contexts, the biology, the psychology, and the social and family environments in which women experience menopause. As a result of completing this course, practitioners will gain increased awareness about how culture, race, and ethnicity influence women's experiences and attitudes toward menopause.
- INTRODUCTION
- ROLE OF CULTURE AND GENDER IN HEALTH BEHAVIORS
- DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
- SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MENOPAUSE: A WESTERN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
- SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IMPACT ON AGING, FEMININITY, GENDER ROLES, AND SEXUALITY
- THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MENOPAUSE
- WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES OF MENOPAUSE: CULTURAL NUANCES
- PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
- CONCLUSION
- RESOURCES
- Works Cited
This intermediate course is designed for psychologists who work with women.
The purpose of this course is to provide psychologists with an understanding of the multifaceted attitudes toward aging, sexuality, and gender roles so they may provide culturally competent and sensitive interventions targeted to the unique psychosocial issues confronted by menopausal women.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Define terms related to the psychosocial construction of meanings of menopause.
- Discuss the historical evolution of how menopause has been constructed and defined.
- Identify societal beliefs about women and aging, life transitions, menopause, social and cultural roles, body image, and sexuality and reproduction.
- Analyze different models of explaining and defining menopause.
- Discuss the role of culture, race, and ethnicity in women's experiences with and attitudes toward menopause.
- Identify clinical and practice implications in working with women who are going through menopause.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, School of Social Work. She has clinical experience in mental health in correctional settings, psychiatric hospitals, and community health centers. In 1997, she received her PhD from UCLA, School of Public Policy and Social Research. Dr. Yick Flanagan completed a year-long post-doctoral fellowship at Hunter College, School of Social Work in 1999. In that year she taught the course Research Methods and Violence Against Women to Masters degree students, as well as conducting qualitative research studies on death and dying in Chinese American families.
Previously acting as a faculty member at Capella University and Northcentral University, Dr. Yick Flanagan is currently a contributing faculty member at Walden University, School of Social Work, and a dissertation chair at Grand Canyon University, College of Doctoral Studies, working with Industrial Organizational Psychology doctoral students. She also serves as a consultant/subject matter expert for the New York City Board of Education and publishing companies for online curriculum development, developing practice MCAT questions in the area of psychology and sociology. Her research focus is on the area of culture and mental health in ethnic minority communities.
Contributing faculty, Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Margaret Donohue, PhD
The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.