Enhancing Women's Partnership with Health Providers in Hormone Replacement Therapy Decision-Making:

Abstract

In the next two decades nearly 40 million women will reach menopause. The women now approaching menopause are different in a variety of ways from previous cohorts of women. More women are surviving to this age with better health and functioning. They are better educated and the first cohort of women to have been employed outside the home throughout most their adult years. This cohort of women expect more from the health care system. They want far more information, involvement, control and choice regarding their care. The pressures of this most educated, consumer-oriented cohort will soon be felt in the services women seek related to menopause. This cohort of women is reaching menopause at a time where there are still no definitive answers about the long-term safety and efficacy of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The task is not to convince women to use HRT, but to help women make informed choices in the face of uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the unique problems associated with delivering services to this growing population and to consider the research and practice changes which may be required to meet this challenge.