Australian women will soon qualify for health control in menopause. Here’s what to expect

The federal government has recently undertaken to create a recent Medicare discount on menopause health assessments. It is available From July 1.

Announcement contained in government response down Senate inquiry to menopause, released last week, but for the first time it was marked at the beginning of this month as part of the government pre -moron financing package For women’s health.

So what is health assessment in menopause? And how will this improve health care received by women at this stage of life?

Why do we need it

In addition to reproductive health, women’s health care was generally modeled on the needs of men. The highest example is financed by the government Medium -aged health control For people aged 45 to 49. This is to identify and manage risk to prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

Recent Senate inquiry In issues related to menopause and perimenopuazes, they emphasized that the time of this health control is not suitable for women. This happens menopausewhich occurs on average in Age of 51 in AustraliaWomen’s health profiles are changing.

Women Get your abdominal fattheir Cholesterol levels are growingand glucose metabolism (sugar) becomes less efficient. All these changes Increase the risk of a woman heart and diabetes diseases.

A huge number of women receive a spotless health card during this health control in the middle of the 1940s. But when menopause passes later, they can develop heart disease and diabetes Risk factorswhich may be undetected.

Some women also go through Early menopause: About 12% aged 40 to 45 and about 4% before 40.

Those women who experience menopause before 45 years senior are known as significantly Higher risk of heart disease than other women. But before women with early menopause qualify for middle -aged health, Key metabolic changes It may have happened quietly, and the ability to intervene in advance to solve them can be omitted.

What will require health control in menopause?

The federal government has committed $ 26 million Over two years to finance recent health assessments in menopause, as part of a $ 64.5 million package aimed at improving healthcare for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause.

Some $ 12.8 million It will also be devoted to the campaign of awareness of the community related to menopause.

My own research has shown that women understand menopause means loss of fertility, but they often have little Knowledge of health changes which occur as part of the transition of menopause. Therefore, increasing health skills in menopause is very much needed.

Similarly, to introduce these consultations specific to menopause so that they are effective, women will need to know what these health controls are, if they are authorized and how to access menopause health control.

Modern health control in menopause will be delivered by GPS. Exactly what will be associated has not yet been explained. However, I would expect that they include a combination of assessment and management of perimenopause and menopause, general health and prosperity, as well as risk assessment and prevention of future bad health, especially heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Upskilling Health Care Procedurs

Similarly, healthcare providers will have to understand the effect of menopause on long -term health and to alleviate the risk of illness, including the role Menopause hormone therapy.

My research has shown Healthcare providers do not trust providing care -related care, indicating the need for greater education in the field of menopause.

According to that Senate inquiry He called to enhance the skills of medical work in the field of menopause through training at a medical school, specialized postgraduate programs and continuous education of clinicists.

Although the government cannot authorize what is taught in medical schools or the content of specialist training programs, his Answer to the query It encourages these institutions to include menopause in their curricula.

In addition, some government funds will be allocated to the extension of the professional development program in the field of menopause management offered by Jean Hailes for women’s health.

Good start, but still not enough

Modern government funds, especially recent health controls in menopause, recognize that women’s health is strongly dictated by grave biological events, such as menopause, as opposed to age.

This is good news. However, we must do more to equip healthcare professionals to provide the best care of menopause for women in these health assessments and beyond.

Adding recent menopause modules to the medical school and specialized training programs will ensure greater awareness of the impact of menopause on women’s health and well -being. However, awareness alone will not provide high -level training for elaborate care, many women in the perimenopausal and menopausal periods.

The possibilities for medical graduates to gain practical clinical experience in menopause medicine are mainly narrow to selected few, who during the training began working in a specialized hospital menopause clinic.

In particular, there is no training program certified in menopause medicine in Australia. Meanwhile, the North American Menopause Society offers Program certified.

The challenge was that menopause did not belong to one medical specialty. That is why we need an accredited training program – both for GPS and medical specialists – to provide a really qualified workforce that can provide gold standard care of menopause.

But without further federal funds for this establishment, this will not happen.