Spotlight on Menopause Health at Limavady event

Limavady women came out in crowds on Wednesday, September 17 for the ‘You Matter It Matters’ annual menopause event organised by the Limavady Primary Care Multi-disciplinary Team.

115 women attended the free event at the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, now in its fourth year to obtain advice and support on managing perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms.

The event was organised by Maureen Duffy, social worker with the Roe Family and Quinn, Brolly and Ross GP Practices at Limavady Health Centre, and her colleague Lynne Gray, a social worker with the Rossair and Bovally GP Practices.

Maureen explained that the event aimed to boost understanding, empowerment and confidence during this stage of life:

“Information is power and when women are empowered, things can only get better, because information and education help us to make the right informed decisions about our menopause, our treatment and our healthcare.

“It is about educating, supporting and empowering local women through the complex transition into menopause, and the multi-layered symptoms which some women experience, creating difficulties in every aspect of their life.”

“This is our fourth annual menopause event and this year we have themed it around health and fitness.

“All of our speakers and information stands here this evening are about health and wellbeing.”

The event brought together specialist speakers covering a range of menopause-related topics, who shared their expertise, personal experience, and practical guidance with those in attendance.

Lynne emphasised the importance of the messages delivered by the experts, noting how valuable their contribution was to making the event a success.

“This evening, we have Dr Lisa Thorpe, who is a GP in the Bovally Medical centre and she will be discussing an overview of menopause, giving some advice on medical interventions, managing symptoms and maintaining overall health and wellbeing during menopause and perimenopause.

“We have Dr Aisling Gough, she is also an influencer and blogger known as Healthy Little Lifter, who will be providing information on nutrition, fitness, fat loss and practical advice for managing menopause and perimenopause.

“We then have Marie Dunne speaking, who is founder of Resilio and hope champion, encouraging a mindset of resilience, particularly during perimenopause and menopause.”

Maureen added that Marie’s presentation was sure to lift the spirits of those attending:

“It is a heavy night so Marie is going to lift up the end of the evening, with her beautiful charisma and her message of hope.

“We have some information stands tonight; the focus was on health and wellbeing so our nurses are here tonight to do blood pressure, our local Health Improvement Officer, our Causeway Coast and Glens Healthy Towns co-ordinator and Woodfield Clinic who offers private blood screening and health checks.

“We also have Women’s Aid, as there is a large group of women here in the room and if they need to get some advice, Foyle Women’s Aid can help.

“Hive, formerly Pink Ladies, who help people managing cancer, are here and we also have Western Trust Breast Screening Team.

“There is a half hour for the women to have a cup of tea and visit the information stands before they sit down for a lovely evening.”

Maureen and Lynne shared that the next events for women who were undergoing menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms was a series of menopause cafes.

Maureen described the popularity of the events which took place earlier this year:

“Last year, we started our menopause cafés in January on a Thursday evening in the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, and we had a great response.

“We started off with essential health checks, we had experts to come in to measure height, weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, had Dr Lisa Thorpe to speak to the ladies and a nutritionist present.”

Lynne continued: “We asked the ladies what they wanted as it was participant led; they had identified mental and emotional health support and Marie Dunne came along and delivered a lovely evening with them which they really enjoyed.

“They also identified that they would like exercise as part of their wellbeing and we ran four weeks of Zumba and four weeks of Pilates, which were really well attended and the women enjoyed the dancing and craic, promoting mental health to help manage the menopause symptoms.

“The peer support in the cafes means the ladies are coming together and realising they are not alone.

“We know that menopause can be an emotional rollercoaster so the ladies coming into a room, sharing their experience and learning that other people are experiencing that too is really comforting.”

For more details about upcoming Menopause Cafés and other events organised by the Primary Care Multidisciplinary Team, individuals can contact their local GP practice, which will provide signposting to menopause support services.