Development of a community based menopause workshop: menopause re-imagined for the women of the upper Cumberland region of Tennessee

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Barbara Whitman Lancaster

Middle Tennessee State University, USA

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

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Although a natural and normal transition from the childbearing years, menopause is a multifaceted event that affects women physically, mentally, and emotionally. Evidence has shown that a woman’s ability to cope with the changes and stresses of menopause can be enhanced through education. Women will spend a third of their life in a post- menopausal state. A successful transition in the individualized yet unique journey of menopause is a women’s health management challenge that can be lessened when education about menopause is provided to women by Health Care Professionals possessing creativity, commitment, caring and skill. The positive effects of menopause education have been reported in the literature; however, the United States has a scarcity of research that looks at educational strategies to assist women in increasing their knowledge about menopause. The purpose of this research was to create a menopause workshop in the Upper Cumberland Region of Tennessee, where educating women could result in increasing knowledge, decreasing fear and anxiety, decreasing cost of unnecessary medications and treatment, decreasing health related issues, and promoting overall health, well-being and empowerment.

Biography

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Barbara Whitman Lancaster began her journey in nursing 35 years ago where she has had the opportunity to work in various milieus. She has completed her Graduation from Frontier Nursing University for both her Master’s in Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner as well as her Doctorate in Nursing practice. She is an Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University where she teaches in both the Undergraduate and online Graduate Nurse Practitioner courses where she is the Author/Developer for the Women’s Health Course. She is involved in foreign medical missions, and is NAMS certified menopause practitioner where she passionately assists women during this often-tumultuous time.