Women's needs for CAM information to manage menopausal symptoms

Abstract

Women feel they are not sufficiently informed to make safe decisions regarding CAM treatment options to alleviate menopausal symptoms. Family physicians are a trusted information source and have an important role in providing women with that information. Brochures containing evidence-based information and a list of newsletters or books that include personal accounts, available in physician's offices and during personal consultations at women's health centers, are offered as a possible solution. A website is another possibility for distributing this information.

Nurse practitioner use of patient-centered care to improve the quality of life of women experiencing vasomotor symptoms of menopause

“…Sveinsdottir and Olafsson (2006) found that women had more negative impressions about HT when they received information from friends and family. Armitage et al (2007) however, found that second-hand information, or 'soft' information was readily accepted by the women they studied but the women did place their trust in the expeti advice offered by health care professionals.…”

“…A survey of hospital inpatients found that 75% of the patients wanted more involvement in decision-making for minor illnesses compared to major illnesses, and patients between 45 and 60 years of age wanted more participation in decision-making compared to those who were under 30 years of age (Doherty & Doherty, 2005). For menopausal women, the desire for involvement stems from a need to have their perimenopausal and menopausal experience validated as a normal transition, and to decrease their anxiety regarding the symptoms they experience, thus improving QOL (Armitage et al , 2007). These numbers alert practitioners to the need for patient centeredness that involves shared decision-making to improve health outcomes.…”

“…Lauver et al (2008) studied pati ents from prim ary care clinics and results revealed that the NP helped patients to attain their goals by providing health-related information. Improvements in health outcomes have been obtained by presenting patients with evidence-based information (Armitage et al, 2007). However, other types of inform ation that may be valuable to some women should not be ignored.…”

“…Today many women are challenging the dominant medical model (Morris & Symonds, 2004) and are no longer willing to blindly accept a prescription, fill it, and return for a refill (Guimond et al, 2003;Legare, Stacey, Dodin, O'Connor, Richer, et al, 2007). A study conducted in a Canadian province found that women between 41 and 66 years of age conveyed a strong desire to participate in their own health care decisions (Armitage et al, 2007), with 59.4% of women in another study reported sought health care for menopausal concerns (Williams, Kalilani, DiBenedetti, Zhou, Fehnel & Clark, 2007). From these numbers 46.2% of women seeking help came out of the 40 to 44 year age group which increased to 59.6% in the 45-50 year age group.…”

“…Health Canada also introduced the Natural Health Products Regulation that requires products to be licensed before being sold in Canada (Armitage et al, 2007). Once safety and effectiveness has been assessed and approved by Health Canada, a product licence is issued (Health Canada, 201 0).…”