Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

On the show this week we’re going to be talking about whether undiagnosed cases of the menopause are partly responsible the number of women aged 45+ leaving a career in PR.

We’ve got Dr Clare Spencer from My Menopause Centre and Jo Carr, co-founder Hope&Glory on the podcast to talk to us about what the symptoms of the menopause are, why it is so often misdiagnosed and how employers can support their staff through this stage of their lives.

If you’re a woman approaching the menopausal age, or you’re going through it at the moment, I suspect Jo and Dr Clare may have some interesting insights for you.

Some background for you:

• 8 in 10 women will experience symptoms of the menopause…

• Women have an average of 7 symptoms, with symptoms usually lasting 4 years, but can last for up to 12 years

• Symptoms include difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, fatigue, depression and low self esteem

• 4 in 10 women say the menopause had a negative impact on their work lives.

PRCA data suggests that 67% of PR professionals in the UK are female while Women in PR’s research suggests that less than one third of boardroom positions in PR and Comms are taken by women.

It’s clear that the public relations is losing far too many highly skilled women from the sector and better diagnosis and treatment of the menopause, and its sympoms, is likely to make a contribution to slowing this trend.

In addition to her position at My Menopause Centre, Dr Clare is also a practising GP and currently runs an NHS menopause service.

Before we start, I’d like to tell you about PRmoment’s new Patron Scheme which I’m very excited about. Details are on the PRmoment.com homepage but if you are a regular consumer of our content, including this podcast, and you’re getting value from it, if you fancy making a contribution to help fund the magazine - now you can.

We have three different Patron Tiers—The Daney Parker Tier, The Chadlington Tier and Edward Bernays Tier.

As a new patron, you will be thanked on the PRmoment Podcast and you can email us a question that we'll discuss with our next guest.

Also, as Jo will be very aware, the PRmoment Awards early deadline is coming up, you’ve got until 17th December for the reduced rate and then 28th Jan for the normal entry price.

Finally, thanks to our PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.

Jo Carr and Dr Clare Spencer welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

4.30 mins Dr Clare talk us through why the menopause is frequently misdiagnosed.

6.30 mins Jo Carr talks about how many women we are likely to be losing from public relations due to undiagnosed cases of the menopause.

7.30 mins How much of the trend of women leaving a career PR early is about ageism in PR?

9 mins Jo talks about her own experience of outing herself as a PR person in her fifties.

11 mins Dr Clare talks about the symptoms of the menopause.

13 mins Dr Clare talks about the problem of women being given anti-depressants for menopausal symtoms, instead of HRT.

15 mins Dr Clare talks about Hormone Replacement Therepy (HRT) as a treatment for the menopause.

17 mins There is an acute talent shortage in public relations at the moment. Jo talks about why losing talented, intelligent women from PR is so frustrating.

20 mins How can we normalise conversations about the menopause in the workplace? And what policies have Hope&Glory found to be most useful in supporting women?

23 mins Dr Clare talks us through the different stages of menopause.

26 mins What help is out there either via people’s GP’s and the NHS or via specialist private providers like My Menopause Centre?

27 mins Here’s the link to the free questionairre about your menopause symtoms.

28 mins Jo explains why, with the right treatment, the menopause “is not the end of a journey, it’s the start of a new one.”

Below is the graphic on “What is the menopause?” that we refered to on the podcast and this piece that talks about “Why the menopause is everyone’s business.”