Claire Archer, wellness and human insights expert, and David Knies, wellness and innovation expert, at PA Consulting discuss transforming menopause through the power of personalisation.
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Recent data reveals that nearly one third of women aged 45-59 rate their emotional and mental health, sleep quality, and quantity as poor. Additionally, this same group reports the highest dissatisfaction with their physical health—23%—compared to other generations. The likely culprit? Menopause. The findings from PA Consulting’s new Future of Wellness survey, which involved over 4,000 respondents in the US and UK, highlight the ongoing impact that this life phase has on the wellbeing of women and those going through menopause.
Yet all too often, menopause is swept under the carpet. Medicine has historically been developed around male bodies, resulting in a large gap in understanding women’s health, as was famously drawn to attention in Caroline Criado Perez’s Invisible Women. The lack of due attention on menopause is likely compounded by the fact that it is also a marker of ageing; a decline in fertility and perceived vitality.
A 2022 Parliamentary report highlighted that a shocking 41% of UK medical schools do not have mandatory menopause education on their curriculum. Meanwhile, a 2023 UCL-led study found that 90% of post-menopausal women were never taught about it at school, which partly explains why so many go into this phase unprepared. This absence in foundational understanding for practitioners and patients disempowers both parties.
The menopause is ultimately a multifaceted condition. Those who undergo it have oestrogen receptors on every cell in their bodies, which means there are at least 34 menopause symptoms that they can experience, and a multitude of ways in which it can present itself. When coupled with an inadequate understanding, its complexity has resulted in plenty of misdiagnoses. A third of women who go to their GP with menopause symptoms are offered antidepressants, despite four in five of them deeming this inappropriate.
The fact is that each person’s experience of the menopause – be that its onset, symptoms, duration, or treatment – will be different. It is an experience that requires precise and tailored recommendations and care. This is where digital health and med-tech solutions can make a real difference to the day-to-day lives of those affected.
Our survey indicates that women are keen for technologies that facilitate self-understanding. 93% of women of menopausal age want some form of wellness offering that is personalised to their bodies or life phase – and, interestingly, the majority (59%) would be willing to share their personal data with brands to achieve this. ‘Stackable,’ seamless, and hyper-personal medtech solutions have the power to help those in the eye of the storm understand their own experiences better.
The rise of femtech over the past decade has, thankfully, created a promising landscape for women-centred health and wellness innovations, with the menopause being a key benefactor. There are several players that are plugging the gap and working to give power back to women through seamless and holistic hyper-sonalisation.
Take, for example, Vira Health: a digital healthcare platform that specialises in the menopause. Its core product, Stella, offers blended, integrated behavioural and clinical care, by tracking 90 clinical data points for users to ensure safe prescribing, as well as offering 24/7 access to real-life health care professionals. Working in close partnership with key public and private healthcare companies, it provides a holistic, hyper-personal approach to tackling the experience of menopause.
Meanwhile, menstrual tracking app Clue – which recently launched its new Club Perimenopause product – is partnering with smart ring technology company ŌURA. Those with the smart ring will be able to use Clue’s app to track body temperatures, helping them proactively and seamlessly identify the onset of perimenopausal symptoms. Although not rooted as specialist menopause products, they’re leveraging interoperability and meaningful partnerships to help deliver holistic, integrated experiences for those who are perimenopausal.
Another example of note is MyMenopauseCentre, a website and online menopause clinic, which has created a space for those experiencing it to get treatment and a deeper understanding of the condition. But what’s even more interesting is ‘pause.’, its community space, which helps those affected establish relationships with like-minded individuals.
Not everyone experiencing the menopause will want to seek out relationships in this area, but innovations that can nurture meaningful connections and personalise the experience are so important for this life stage. Technology is sometimes a double-edged sword – it can be equally brilliant and terrible at making us feel connected. However, if done right, it can help those experiencing a condition that is mired in taboo, isolating and confusing, feel part of a supportive community.
These are just a few examples of companies delivering hyper-personal experiences that can seamlessly integrate with people’s lives. There are many others now working to improve the experience of the menopause, like Joylux, who are addressing the even more taboo subject of menopausal intimacy, or Thermaband, the wearable that provides relief to hot flushes and night sweats. The need is big, and technology can help.
Beyond the world of menopause, other innovations are looking at improving people’s wellness with hyper-personalisation. Zoe, the health science company that launched three years ago, uses at-home tests to highlight how users’ microbiomes affect their nutrition. The results then inform a personalised nutrition plan supported through an app, which aims to guide customers towards a healthier lifestyle.
Imagine a solution that can assess the physiology of those who experience the menopause on a regular basis and then feedback how their nutrition and lifestyle impact their experience. Zoe already has a library full of useful menopause and perimenopause nutritional guidance online – it will be interesting to see how they might develop their offer further for this key audience group.
Another interesting one is Pvolve, a functional fitness method solely focused on women, which recently launched its Phase & Function methodology. The programme looks to leverage clinical understanding of the four phases of the menstrual cycle to inform a hyper-personalised nutrition and workout routine, along with supportive expert-led education. They have created four special classes, designed specifically to help those experiencing the menopause. Their holistic approach to fitness, that is ‘powered by periods’, celebrates understanding the female body to drive a healthier life.
Putting those who experience the menopause at the centre of product and service design is crucial. Hyper-personalisation empowers people to educate themselves and their health and wellness providers about their experience of the menopause.
When personal data is holistic, integrated, and leveraged into medtech solutions – and, of course, done so in an ethical and trustworthy manner – it can drive understanding and dialogue around the menopause, push healthy habits, and most importantly, drive progress in managing it effectively.
There is clearly a whole societal shift that needs to take place to improve both understanding and experience of the menopause – from sufficient education in schools, to better GP support, to government action, to more workplace menopause policies. But personalised, data-driven digital health options can play a key role in helping those who experience it navigate this life stage. For a condition that has been in the dark for too long, there is a brighter way forward for the menopause.
