Presentation description

MENOGAP is a program that aims to fill a GAP in peri- and post- MENOpausal women's healthcare by providing evidence-based education and self-care management. The integrative medical group visit provides medical care (e.g., medication management, health education and referrals), integrative medicine interventions (e.g., self-acupressure, acupuncture, mindfulness) and education about risk for and ways to prevent cardiometabolic disease, cancers, osteoporosis and dementia. The majority of women in the menopausal transition experience vasomotor symptoms, pain, anxiety, or depression. However, many do not receive appropriate medical care and have little access to evidence-based treatment and management. In addition, many women describe that they do not have sufficient information about menopause and are interested in both integrative and conventional treatment options for symptom management. Integrative medical group visits can reduce depression, anxiety, pain, and vasomotor symptoms while increasing knowledge about self-efficacy to improve the menopausal transition experience. MENOGAP aims to empower and inform women about this new stage of life. The purpose of this study was to assess how acceptable participants rated MENOGAP while testing the feasibility of recruiting and enrolling participants, delivering the intervention, and collecting data. Through three cohorts of women, qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed to assess changes in menopausal symptoms, self-efficacy, and knowledge. The feasibility and acceptability were evaluate both qualitatively and quantitatively. There was a trend in symptoms decreasing and knowledge increasing. We could not determine statistical significance due to small sample size collected thus far. While the study is ongoing, data collected to date suggests that the structure of MENOGAP is feasible, acceptable, and may decrease the symptoms of menopausal women while increasing their knowledge about the transition occurring in their live. A larger sample size will be collected over time to better understand the effects