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Middling Along is the podcast for ‘midults‘ who want to spend their middle years thriving, not just surviving. Voted as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause at https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/ - Emma speaks to a wide range of guests who entertain, inform, and inspire in equal measure!
Episodes
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My guest this time is Lyndsey Simpson: founder & CEO of 55/Redefined. Recognising a gap in the market for a brand that answers the call of the ‘bet-your-ass-I-can’ over-50s, Lyndsey set up 55/Redefined to fly the flag for those who may be getting older but have no intention of slowing down (inspired - not retired!).
Just five years ago, Lyndsey was planning to retire early from her role as CEO of an HR firm when a special assignment lit a fire in her imagination. She was shocked that the hundreds of retired bankers she recruited for that assignment almost all agreed that retiring had been a huge mistake…
The statistics are quite stark: by 2030 50% of the UK workforce will be 50 and over (and in places like Spain, Italy, and Germany they are already almost hitting that marker).
Over 50s now are healthier and wealthier than previous generations: we don’t dress or think like our parents did and mostly don’t want the same things - but society (and the world of work) has not caught up with this…
Listen in to our fascinating chat to find out more about:
- 100 year lives and how many of us will want or need a more harmonious and blended life phase of work and life in our Third Quarter (50-75) and potentially even into our Fourth Quarter;
- How the over 50s are the only growth talent pool and the only growth consumer pool;
- How, despite the extent to which advertising is skewed to youth (at present), 75% of all wealth is held by 50-70 year olds and by 2040 62p of every pound spent online in the UK, will be spent by an over-50 consumer (brands take note!);
- Why companies who ‘get it’ are seeing great results from mirroring demographics across customer service roles, product design, marketing, and advertising, and focusing on multigenerational teams;
- The work 55/Redefined is doing to smash inaccurate stereotypes around older workers: for example, the data shows that over 50s are 200% less likely to take a day off sick and five times less likely to leave for another job within their first 18 months in a company than employees under 30;
- Why we are all underestimating our own longevity by decades: a 40 year old now will have a life life expectancy of 98!
- The massive benefits that come from creating blended intergenerational teams;
- The need for a radical shift in working patterns, since flexibility is THE number one thing that would keep people in work for longer (whether that is in order for them to balance caring responsibilities, change careers, find better work life balance or spend time travelling) - and that mindset shift will need to come from both companies and individuals;
- How mindset shifts around salaries, prestige and self-worth will also open up opportunities for change and growth in our Third (and Fourth) Quarter;
- Lyndsey also shares the example of her own brother, who, after 30 years working in supermarket retail, has retrained as an audiologist in his late 40s and started an entirely new career
If you want further inspiration and examples of people who have pivoted and careers check out https://life-redefined.co/
If you’d like to check out roles from employers that are actively hiring over 50s take a look at https://jobs-redefined.co/
If your organization wants to read the research and reports created by Lyndsey’s team (or work with them), check out https://work-redefined.co/
You can follow Lyndsey herself on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndsey-simpson-045b034/?originalSubdomain=uk
If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
This is the 100th episode of the Middling Along podcast!
In a week of overwhelming world political developments, this podcast feels particularly timely...
This time I welcome Nahid de Belgeonne: Nahid has had a varied career having previously worked fashion, publishing, technology and wellness. During her perimenopause, she swapped bricks and mortar studios in central London for her online clinic and now lives by the sea.
Her Soothe Programme helps women recover from Burnout, anxiety and trauma and she has translated all her expertise into a book called ‘Soothe, the book your nervous system has been longing for.’
Nahid talks to me about her own struggles with chronic anxiety, stress-related skin conditions, neuralgia, and almost dying from gangrenous appendicitis because she refused to listen to her own body - and subsequently learning how to ‘rewire’ the brain through movement. Her in-depth research into why certain things work and why they are good for you led her to write ‘Soothe’ and the programme it is based on.
Listen to our chat to find out more about:
- How we are conditioned to do more, and more, and more…putting ourselves at the bottom of the priority list;
- How if you regulate yourself you also non-verbally regulate those around you - a win-win;
- How important it is to carve out time when your brain is not being constantly stimulated;
- How, if you are wholly engaged with what you are doing, your levels of contentment go up;
- That you feed information to your brain through your senses, interoception - listening in to the signals your body is sending you;
- Why we need to internalize our comfort instead of externalizing it;
- Why we need to be dealing with microstressors as they happen throughout the day instead of saving them all up and trying to ‘deal’ with them at the end of the day.
- What the seemingly simple act of rocking can do for our bodies and brains.
As Nahid says in the book: “The brain’s job is to keep us alive by budgeting our resources…Your brain is constantly predicting what will happen to you next…”
Our brains are working so incredibly hard in the modern world aren’t they? Did you know that our visual distance gets fixed if sitting all day looking at a screen, which sends alarm signals to the brain. Walking in green spaces is a great antidote, even just for a short period of time - but walking in general is also helpful, the way our eyes move when we walk is also calming for our brains!
Nahid also suggests that we treat your phones as a rare and precious commodity rather than an appendage! The importance of social connections and interactions for a healthy nervous system cannot be underestimated...there's so much more in this episode I'd love you to discover.
For now, I’ll leave you with my favourite quote from the book:
“...what if ambition, speed and acquisition were not the only human goals? What if we also valued sensing, exploring, learning, the beauty of the process, resting, creating, pausing, resetting, repairing, calibrating, or even compassionately being?”
You can find more about Nahid’s work on her website:
Buy the book at https://www.waterstones.com/book/soothe/nahid-de-belgeonne/9781800817104
You can find her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehumanmethoduk/
You can also find her on Substack: https://nahiddebelgeonne.substack.com/
If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
My guest this time is Victoria Tomlinson - chief executive and founder of Next-Up - the company she launched in 2018 (at the age of 63), to help businesses and their employees use the skills and talent of the 50+ generation in new ways, before and after retirement. [Note that our chat was recorded on the eve of the 2024 general election so before the current government was elected!]
A former director at EY, Victoria is a bestselling author and an international speaker on unretirement, personal branding and using LinkedIn strategically as well as on leadership and women on boards. Through Next-Up, she is on a mission to combat age discrimination and get society and employers to value and invest in 50+ employees and use their skills to create the workforce of the future.
Shockingly fewer than 1 in 10 organizations are tackling ageism as part of their EDI strategy and age discrimination is rife.
Victoria quotes hearing from an HR Director at an event that they personally “won’t even look at an applicant’s CV if they’ve worked in one organization for 20-30 years” - and they’re surely not alone… It seems ageism is the one ‘ism’ that no-one is really cracking down on - though Victoria fully expects discrimination cases to increase in the near future.
Despite very well-publicized stats that the share of the population aged 50 and older will increase from 37% in 2020 to 45% in 2050 and widespread skills shortages, many recruiters are still blatantly discriminating against older applicants, and when Victoria posts (as she regularly does) on LinkedIn, she is deluged with hundreds of examples of individuals who have first hand experience of that discrimination.
Next-Up is tackling this in range of ways, with progressive employers, and Victoria mentions a few that are leading the charge, like Unilever (their ‘U work’ model provides a basic contract and benefits, and then employees can contract on top of that for projects of all sizes and shapes that fit with their individual circumstances), and Fullers Brewery who are using Restless to recruit older workers and combat skills shortages.
With multi-generational workforces of five (and soon seven) generations in the workplace, companies need to figure out how to manage the differing needs of all employees for whom traditional 9-5 models just do not work. Also to focus on multi-generational working – purposefully designing boards, projects and everyday work with generations threaded through it all.
Victoria also offers her pointers for what older workers can do to ensure that we are not being 'left behind' which include:
- Taking advantage of free courses to upskill in tech, and AI in particular, since older individuals have a key role to play in helping companies better understand AI and the places where it needs to be refined - a huge opportunity;
- Data and cyber risks - again , lots of free courses;
- Being mindful of the language we use: avoid saying things like “oh we didn’t do it like that in my day;”
- Respecting, mentoring, and forging relationships with younger people;
- Being curious and cultivating a growth mindset.
She also shares her advice for finding ‘age inclusive’ employers and her dream for a future where Unretirement means people retain long term relationships with their employers wherein they come back to to mentor colleagues, companies make use of their valuable knowledge and use them as an interim resource – to cover holidays, maternity leave and more; and individuals retain purpose and value in their work.
You can find Victoria at https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriatomlinson/ and Next-Up at https://www.next-up.com/
https://restless.co.uk/ is the other organization that Victoria mentions.
Find out more about U Work at https://www.unilever.com/sustainability/future-of-work/future-workplace/
If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our weekly newsletter, The Messy Middle: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Wednesday Oct 16, 2024
Wednesday Oct 16, 2024
In this extra podcast episode, we dive into the recent BBC Panorama documentary’s portrayal of the menopause industry.
Our guest, Dr Beth Thomas, GP, British Menopause Society accredited specialist at Everything Menopause, and clinical lead at Managing the Menopause, shares her expert insights on the complexities of menopause treatment, the importance of individualized care, and the implications of the documentary on both healthcare providers and women seeking menopause support.
This episode covers
- A brief look at the documentary’s critique of a prominent menopause clinic and its implications for the wider industry.
- Beth explains the current British Menopause Society (BMS) and NICE guidelines for oestrogen dosing. Risks of oestrogen doses beyond current guidelines, and why individualized care is essential.
- Common issues with absorption and how switching between patches, gels, and sprays can improve outcomes for some women.
- Discussion of the challenges faced by women in accessing quality menopause care through the NHS.
- The need for more research and clinical trials on HRT and menopause treatments.
- The importance of patient consent and shared decision-making.
- Recognizing that HRT is not a cure-all and the value of a holistic approach during the menopause transition.
Links and Resources:
- Watch the BBC Panorama Documentary on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023jdn
- Advice on HRT: https://www.womens-health-concern.org/help-and-advice/factsheets/
- Previous interview with Paula Rastrick, a participant in the Panorama documentary: https://middlingalong.com/episodes/middling-along-paula-rastrick-on-our-brain-body-connection-in-perimenopause-could-you-be-an-hsp/
If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Wednesday Oct 02, 2024
Wednesday Oct 02, 2024
My guest today is Dr Stella Duffy OBE - she is an existential psychotherapist, has recently completed her PhD, has written 17 novels, 15 plays, and 70 short stories, and in previous incarnations has been an actor, theatre-director, comedian and much much more…including being on the steering committee that started the Women’s Equality Party!
Having previously survived two encounters with cancer, last year, with no warning, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that very nearly killed her. Despite this, she recovered and went on to finish her PhD exploring the experiences of post-menopausal women.
We start off with me asking Stella to explain what existential psychotherapy is (because I definitely had no clue!). She outlines the approach as asking clients, “what choices have you made; what choices do you want to keep making; what choices are you making because you believe you have no choice; where do you want to change; and where are you right now?”
We also talk about how her second round of breast cancer felt like “a big slap in the face,” having made a subconscious deal with the Universe that trading the loss of her fertility due to aggressive cancer treatment would allow her to fully recover and continue to live cancer-free.
We move on to discuss the dearth of “post-menopausal” voices in the Menosphere - something I hope the podcast can go some way to addressing even in small part. The “industry” doesn’t want to hear from happy, satisfied, thriving post-menopausal women, Stella points out, because then we won’t buy in to needing to be “fixed” in quite the same way… As she herself can attest: “It’s better ‘out the other side’…”! On the flip side, her theory is that as regards the diverse voices we’re not hearing (the women who aren’t talking about their symptoms) their voices are absent not because they aren’t experiencing symptoms but because other, even harder stuff is going on in their lives. When people haven’t needed to deal with difficulties in life before, then menopause comes as a shock. She also argues that perhaps the anger and anxiety that often accompany menopause are valid responses to being surrounded by patriarchy, sexism and misogyny?
We also look at different global experiences of menopause: she cites research that compared Highland Mayan Guatemalan women to those in the US - where despite similar levels of osteoporosis, the Guatemalan women had no fractures due to diet and lifestyle differences (high calcium in their water, exercise throughout life (carrying water for miles well into their 70s), and absence of alcohol. (They also call their hot flushes: “the rising of the animal spirit” which I think perhaps should be a ‘thing’ here too!). What else can we learn from other cultures - especially where older adults are treated with respect - but also what can we learn from studying those who have ‘sailed though’ menopause - what were they doing differently in earlier life that might be influencing their experiences?
We move on to confronting our own internalized ageism and finding our own ways to age on our own terms - to articulate what we want from our ‘one wild and precious life.’ Flexing those “I want” muscles doesn’t always come easily - and as we agree towards the end of our chat…We don’t have to figure it all out overnight!
You can find out more about Stella and her work at https://stelladuffytherapy.co.uk/
If you enjoy the podcast please consider sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly(ish) goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
This time on the podcast we welcome back Kate Codrington, author of Second Spring, to talk about her new book The Perimenopause Journal, which was published this week..
Kate’s new book is a lovingly created year-long journal which can be started at any point in your perimenopause journey and builds on her writing around the different seasons of pre/peri- and post-menopause in Second Spring (although you certainly don’t need to have read this to use the Journal). Within you’ll find journaling prompts and guides that help you figure out which of the different types of seasonal self-care are right for you as you navigate the rollercoaster of perimenopause.
As Kate herself outlines, there’s no time in our lives where the prompt “How can I be kinder to myself?” is not appropriate, but perimenopause is surely one time where we desperately need to allow ourselves more kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness.
She describes perimenopause as a process of refinement - showing us what isn’t working for us, what is not serving us in life.
In this sense the Journal is a helpful vehicle for us to be able to look back over a period of time and see how we have developed our self-kindness practices.
The positives of perimenopause - which are much more available to us when we are well rested - include getting clear on our needs and how to get our needs met - which can be easier said than done given we have (generally) been socialized to put our needs last. Processing this can reveal to us the gap between who we actually are and how we have sold ourselves short. The act of writing things down in a journal helps us build the muscle of articulating what we need. This practice - of accepting our vulnerability and strength, claiming lost parts of ourselves - takes time and however we choose to deal with perimenopause (whether we take HRT or not), this inner process is still likely to be going on… We joke about ‘enforced rest and respite’ for perimenopausal folk (we can dream!) - but the journal really is a framework for enabling what our minds and bodies are calling out for.
The Perimenopause Journal also gives you access to some of Kate’s fantastic yoga nidra meditations (accessible using the QR codes in the book) for 20-minute doses of deep restorative rest, as well as intention-setting meditations each month.
We unpack a little of my skepticism around moon phases which are used as an anchor in the journal - Kate gently explains why exploring and noting how we feel in relation to the phases of the moon can be supportive especially once the rhythm of other cycles has gone.
I love Kate’s description of the journal as “a soft-lined nest for you to rest in’ - and who would not want that!
You can find out more about Kate’s work and writing (and access her free resource library, including some yoga nidra recordings) at
The Perimenopause Journal is published by David and Charles: https://www.davidandcharles.com/books/diaries-letters-journals/the-perimenopause-journal-9781446313589/
Second Spring is available in paperback: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/second-spring-kate-codrington/5752562?ean=9780008469771
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to help me keep it running (on a shoestring!) please consider buying me a ‘virtual coffee’ at Ko-fi.com/middlingalong - or you can support me in a non-monetary way by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly(ish) goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Tuesday Aug 06, 2024
Tuesday Aug 06, 2024
This time I’m joined by author Cathy Kelly - Cathy is a former journalist whose debut novel, Woman To Woman, became an instant number one bestseller. Since then, she has published 22 novels, which have sold millions of copies globally. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Ireland since 2005 and has visited many countries to report on UNICEF's work. When not writing with a small dog nestled at her back, she reads voraciously, dances round the kitchen, travels pillion on a motorbike, has a variety of textile art projects on the go and pretends to Marie Kondo the house.
Cathy’s latest novel Sisterhood is - of course - about two sisters - Lou and Toni. Lou is someone who habitually puts herself last…until the events that unfold at her 50th birthday party push her to stop pleasing other people and decide to finally put herself first.
This prompts us to discuss how commonly those of us coming up to 50 are prompted to examine our lives, sometimes interrogating what we have been putting up with and questioning, asking ourselves… “What am I for?”
Cathy also talks about her own treatment for cancer - another life inflection point that makes you question everything…
We move on to talk about the appeal of historical novels and Cathy is kind enough to share a few recommendations for books that she has loved recently: the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard (https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/fiction/cazalet-chronicles-books-in-order) and A Discovery of Witches https://deborahharkness.com/all-souls-world-home/the-all-souls-world-books/ (and I mention one of my all time favourite historical novels: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-needle-in-the-blood/)
Cathy calls out the misogyny and snobbishness around fiction written ‘by women, for women, about women’s lives’ and we touch on the evolution of the so-called ‘chick lit’ writers now hitting their 50s and writing about this new age and stage of their lives.
We also head off on a few tangents, reminiscing about carefree pre-Internet times and 80s fashion!
Find out more about Sisterhood at https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/sisterhood-cathy-kelly?variant=40276782973006 - out in hardback now, and in paperback in March 2025…
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to help me keep it running (on a shoestring!) please consider buying me a ‘virtual coffee’ at Ko-fi.com/middlingalong - or you can support me in a non-monetary way by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly(ish) goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
My guest this time is Cindy Gallop - consultant, coach, keynote speaker, and founder of MakeLoveNotPorn. I’ve been a fan of Cindy’s since I first watched the interview on the Style Like U channel that saw her become an older female role model not just to me, but to thousands of women of all ages (and apparently a few men too!). I was also lucky enough to finally meet her in person at the Upfront conference earlier this year where she gave the brilliant closing keynote - I had my own ‘Upfront’ moment asking her to come on the podcast and she graciously agreed.
We talk about the genesis of her sex-tech business MakeLoveNotPorn.tv: a place for ‘socialising, normalising and destigmatising real-world sex’ and Cindy reminds us that when we don’t talk about sex ‘porn becomes sex education by default’... I was fascinated to learn more about MLNP - from the rigorous checking and vetting processes that all content and comments pass through to create safe spaces for all concerned, how empowering and healing many of the ‘stars’ find the process of sharing their videos, to hearing about how hard it is for sex-tech businesses to attract funding (prompting their current round of equity crowdfunding: see https://wefunder.com/makelovenotporn/ if you want to find out more).
For those of us who do have kids, particularly younger children, the ready availability of pornographic content online is a huge concern - Cindy’s next goal is to fund https://www.makelovenotporn.academy/ to create a platform for age-appropriate sex-education for individuals of all ages that will also serve as a way for sex educators to make a living from providing their content (currently most struggle against platforms that censor even educational content). (This: https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/27/more-than-300m-children-victims-of-online-sexual-abuse-every-year is the article I refer to in the course of this episode - shocking statistics and a stark reminder that we can’t afford to be complacent in talking to our children about sex, no matter how tricky we may find those conversations. Cindy shares with us her two tips for how to navigate those conversations - advice that I know I’ll definitely find hugely useful.
Last of all we cover ageism in the advertising industry and Cindy’s determination to change societal attitudes towards ageing - creating a culture where ‘living older’ is aspirational and ads are created by and for older audiences and as a result. Music to my ears!
You can find Cindy at https://www.instagram.com/cindygallop and MLNP at https://makelovenotporn.tv/
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to help me keep it running (on a shoestring!) please consider buying me a ‘virtual coffee’ at Ko-fi.com/middlingalong - or you can support me in a non-monetary way by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly(ish) goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
This time on the podcast my guest is Tina Backhouse, General Manager at Theramex. Tina joined Theramex in 2020 to lead the UK Women’s Health business, helping to establish them as the largest supplier of HRT & Menopause Products in the UK. She is passionate about ensuring equality of care for all women regarding their health in the UK, and that women have choice in their healthcare options.
She joins us to discuss the recent research the company funded to investigate disparities in access to menopause support: for example, just 5% of black women are on HRT vs 20% of white women, and individuals in areas of social deprivation are significantly less likely to be prescribed the newer, safer forms of HRT.
We also cover some of Tina’s ongoing frustrations at the lack of prioritization and funding available for women’s healthcare - such as the fact that NHS England developed a public health campaign for menopause that was never launched due to lack of funding.
Would it surprise you to know that the UK currently has the largest gender health gap in the G20? We also have a staggering 35% gender pension gap.
The report, published in April 2024 interviewed a range of clinicians and allied healthcare professionals, and is available to download at: https://www.theramex.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Theramex_Tackling-Unequal-Access-to-Menopause-Care.pdf - we discuss the five recommendations that the report concludes with, including better training for GPs and other allied healthcare professionals, and the creation of a national formulary to end the current postcode lottery whereby some newer HRT is available in some areas but not others.
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to help me keep it running (on a shoestring!) please consider buying me a ‘virtual coffee’ at Ko-fi.com/middlingalong - or you can support me in a non-monetary way by sharing this episode, or writing a short review online!
If your workplace wants to become more ‘menopause friendly’ then please let them know about the work I do at http://www.managingthemenopause.com
You can also find me over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ and https://www.instagram.com/managingthemenopause
Join our newsletter, The Messy Middle, for fortnightly(ish) goodness into your Inbox: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/323784/90772270045202190/share
We’re delighted to be listed as one of the Top 25 podcasts for midlife and menopause here: https://www.lattelounge.co.uk/podcasts-about-the-menopause/
Wednesday Jun 05, 2024
Wednesday Jun 05, 2024
In this episode I welcome Dr Angela Wright from Spiced Pear Health. Angela is a GP, Menopause Specialist and Clinical Sexologist. She is particularly interested in improving sexual function and menopausal symptoms in women who have undergone cancer treatment. Angela is passionate about women’s health and sexology and is frequently asked to teach or talk about this subject. She is a registered trainer for the BMS & FSRH, involved in training future menopause specialists and is an active committee member of the British Society of Sexual Medicine, and the education committee of the Primary Care Women's Health Forum.
We covered so much in such a short space of time! We started by talking about the impact of localised (vaginal) oestrogen vs what systemic HRT does - both for GSM (genito-urinary syndrome of menopause) and for sexual dysfunction. For anyone wanting to know more about GSM, or pass information on to their GP, Angela recommends the British Society of Sexual Medicine consensus statement on GSM that’s available on their website (linked below).
She goes on to explain that there is no increase in recurrence risk for oestrogen receptor positive breast cancers when using localized oestrogen to treat symptoms (and that it can be used alongside letrozole and tamoxifen). We discuss the need for patients to be able to make an informed choice about risks vs benefits, which can be challenging when healthcare professionals are not taught to understand the impact that GSM and sexual dysfunction can have on quality of life - certainly male sexual dysfunction gets a lot more attention and usually pretty rapid treatment!
We move on to discuss ‘sex tech’ and the burgeoning menopause ‘market’ in this area, including laser therapy (TLDR: more research needed, long term effects not known, it’s expensive, and vaginal oestrogen would be more effective in the majority of cases).
Angela gives an overview of what self-care practices can be helpful for someone struggling with GSM - listen in to find out some very little known information about the clitoris (and how to keep it healthy) that was totally news to me! She also explains that a range of prescription medicines (in particular antidepressants, but also antihistamines, and blood pressure medication) can mess with our sexual responsiveness, so could be something to discuss with our healthcare provider.
For anyone struggling that wants to find out more, or support them in advocating for better care, Angela recommended a wide range of resources listed here:
Mind The Gap, by Karen Gurney
Better Sex Through Mindfulness, by Lori Brotto
Becoming Clitorate, by Laurie Mintz
Institute for Psychosexual Medicine website directory of practitioners https://www.ipm.org.uk/patients/specialists/
COSRT https://www.cosrt.org.uk/ - list of therapists
British Society for Sexual Medicine (email admin@bssm.org.uk and ask for a local practitioner)
Menopause-ull webinars https://www.mnetwork.org.uk/resources/recorded-webinars/
You might also be interested in our testosterone episode with Dr Katie Barber: https://middlingalong.com/episodes/middling-along-dr-katie-barber-helps-us-get-to-grips-with-testosterone-dos-and-donts/
You can find Angela online at https://spicedpearhealth.co.uk/ and https://www.instagram.com/spicedpearhealth/
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