Women's Health Care Expectations Must Change

Menopause affects millions of women, yet conversations about it are often overlooked. Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine student doctors Destany Michael, MS, MPH, and Pooja M., saw an opportunity to address a critical gap in health education and turned it into action through MenoWell Vallejo. In this conversation with Andrea E. Garcia, MBA, Vice President of Advancement and Director of Campus Engagement & Community Affairs, they share how they're building community, increasing menopause literacy, and creating meaningful support for women throughout Vallejo. 🎙️ Watch the full podcast here: https://lnkd.in/gFPAeGcB

If we genuinely redesigned healthcare around a woman’s whole life, what would you change first? We’ve built women’s healthcare around the way healthcare is organised. Perhaps we should have built it around the way women live. We’ve become very good at building specialties. And we absolutely need that expertise. But women don’t live their lives in specialties. A woman doesn’t suddenly become a different person when she moves from reproductive care to cardiology, struggles with her mental health, or reaches menopause. It’s the same woman. And her history matters. What happened in her teens matters. What happened during her pregnancies matters. Her hormonal and metabolic health matters. Her family history matters. Yet too often, we look at each piece separately. I’m increasingly convinced that the next step in women’s health isn’t another specialty or another service. It’s connecting what we already know. Imagine if what we learned about a woman at 25 helped shape how we cared for her at 45, and what we learned at 45 helped us protect her health at 65. Not because one clinician needs to manage everything. But because the system should be capable of remembering the whole woman. Perhaps that is the shift we need to make: from episodes of care to a continuum of health.

Looking forward to this conversation with Janna Manjelievskaia. Veradigm is proud of the data and insights we developed to help the healthcare system navigate women’s health issues more fully. We are developing the next level of insights in maternal care, mid-life, perimenopause and menopause - if you are interested in learning more reach out to Janna or myself!

Women make up half the population, yet women’s health has historically been remarkably under-researched and underserved. A recent National Academic analysis found that just 8.8% of NIH research spending from 2013–2023 focused on women’s health—with significant knowledge gaps still remaining around menopause and midlife health. (NCBI) After nearly two decades working in healthcare, I have experienced that gap from the patient side—and then had a very different experience with Midi Health My provider, Ashley, listened to what I was experiencing, took my symptoms seriously, and focused on helping me feel better rather than accepting them as an inevitable part of getting older. I was impressed enough that I referred three women after my first appointment. For women navigating perimenopause, menopause, or midlife health changes who feel like they haven’t gotten the answers or support they need, Midi is worth exploring. There is still a lot of work to do in women’s health. I’m glad to see organizations like Midi Health doing it.

What Two Decades In Women’s Health Practice Taught Me About Girls After 20 years of treating women, the most important thing I've learned didn't come from a patient in her 40s or 50s. It came from realizing she needed me in her teens. Over two decades as an OB-GYN, I've sat across from thousands of women navigating their bodies - through perimenopause, through menopause, through all the moments the healthcare system finally decided were worth addressing. And in nearly every conversation, there was a version of the same quiet admission: "I just never knew." Never knew that what she was feeling was normal. Never knew her body was sending her signals worth listening to. Never knew she could ask questions without feeling like a burden. She'd been carrying confusion - sometimes shame - for decades, because no one met her at the beginning with the support she needed. That's what 20 years in practice taught me: we've been treating women's health as a series of emergencies instead of a lifelong education. We show up when things go wrong. We are absent when we could set everything right. Girls are not smaller women. They are women at the start of their story. And the foundation we give them - or don't give them - follows them into every exam room, every conversation, every decision they'll ever make about their own bodies. That's why I co-founded Cloudstate . Not as a pivot from my clinical work, but as its most logical conclusion. If I can help a woman at 52 understand her body, I can help a girl at 16 feel proud of hers. And if I can do that - if we can do that - we change the entire trajectory. Cloudstate is what I wish existed for every patient I've ever had, before she ever needed a patient chart. It’s not just a bra brand, it's a safe, peer-led, expert-backed space that meets girls where they are, gives them language for their bodies, and builds the kind of confidence and health literacy that doesn't just improve girlhood - it transforms womanhood. We start earlier. Because we finally can. #WomensHealth #Cloudstate #Girlhood #GenZ #Menopause #Wellness

September is Perimenopause Awareness Month. Perimenopause can begin years before menopause, yet many women don’t know what to look for or where to turn for evidence-based information and care. We need to do better at: • Helping women recognize the signs earlier • Educating healthcare professionals about the menopause transition • Expanding research on women in midlife • Making evidence-based care easier to understand and access • Giving women the confidence to advocate for themselves

Public health prevention initiatives concerning women have historically pursued two relatively independent tracks: a maternal and child health (MCH) track and a family planning track. In a new Milbank Quarterly article, Naomi Clemmons of JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. and coauthors examine these trajectories, their impacts on population health, and approaches to a more integrated system of care. The authors conclude that aligned funding streams and integration of these services would help address racial and ethnic health disparities. https://lnkd.in/g2Mrw_kF CC: Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Every Mother Counts, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Birth Equity Collaborative

Where a woman lives in Indiana can shape the healthcare she has access to. Nearly one-quarter of Indiana counties are considered maternal healthcare deserts. But geography is only one part of the equation. Affordability, transportation, continuity of care, access to trusted providers, and the ability to navigate an increasingly complex healthcare system all influence women’s health outcomes. And those barriers don’t exist at just one stage of life. That’s why the October 4 WE Brunch is focused on the Continuum of Care — from maternal health to menopause. We’re bringing women, healthcare experts, and community resources together to move beyond identifying the gaps and toward something women can use: greater knowledge, stronger connections, and more confidence advocating for their own care. Women deserve to understand their bodies. They deserve to know what questions to ask. And they deserve access to resources that can help them navigate what comes next. This is a conversation Indiana women need, and one worth being in the room for. Join us October 4: https://lnkd.in/ga3rZfud

♀️ Affordable women’s health isn’t a luxury, it’s a foundation. ♀️ Every day I hear stories from women who delay care because the cost feels too high, the wait feels too long, or the system feels too complex. This is a global issue...not just in your neighbourhood. ♀️ And when women delay care, conditions worsen, stigma deepens, preventable suffering becomes normalised, and quality of life diminishes. 🗣️ We can do better. ♀️ Making women’s health affordable means: Earlier intervention, better long-term outcomes and a healthcare system that actually reflects the needs of half the population. ♀️ When access improves, shame decreases. When cost barriers fall, women step forward sooner. And when credible, evidence‑based resources are easy to find, women feel empowered rather than overwhelmed. ♀️ This is the future we should be building, one where every woman can seek care without hesitation, fear, or financial strain. 🫶 Hat tip to Menopause Support UK for offering free, compassionate support to women navigating menopause, a powerful example of what accessible care can look like. Diane Danzebrink

🌍 The International Menopause Society (IMS) is a membership organisation that brings together the world’s leading experts to collaborate and share knowledge about all aspects of aging in women. The IMS advocates evidence-based treatment options that optimise mid-life women’s health and promotes best practice in women’s health care. 📚 Climacteric, our official journal (Impact Factor 3.9 | CiteScore 7.0), continues to advance global research on women’s health, thanks to Editor-in-Chief Dr. Tim Hillard, our Associate Editors, Editorial Advisory Board, Editorial Assistant Susan Brown, and the Taylor & Francis team. ✨ IMS members enjoy full access to every issue, while selected papers are freely available to all through Open Access or limited-time Free Access articles chosen by Dr. Tim Hillard. 🔗 Become a member for full journal access - https://lnkd.in/e8WrUM5R 📝 Ready to publish? Submit your research via our website https://lnkd.in/eHjspZhj and reach a global audience. #Menopause #GlobalHealth #WomensHealth #ResearchExcellence #IMS #Climacteric