IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i18p6462-d409182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“I Get That Spirit in Me”—Mentally Empowering Workplace Health Promotion for Female Workers in Low-Paid Jobs during Menopause and Midlife

Author

Listed:
  • Marjolein Verburgh

    (Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, P.O. Box 22660, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Petra Verdonk

    (Department Ethics, Law and Humanities, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC VU University, Boelelaan 1089a, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Yolande Appelman

    (Department of Cardiology, Amsterdam UMC VU University, Boelelaan 1117, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Monique Brood-van Zanten

    (Department of Gynecology, Amsterdam UMC University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, P.O. Box 22660, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    Department of Gynecology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, P.O. Box 90203, 1006 BE Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Karen Nieuwenhuijsen

    (Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, P.O. Box 22660, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

During menopause and midlife, female workers, particularly those in low-paid jobs, experience more occupational health problems than other groups of workers. Workplace interventions are often lacking, however. In the Netherlands, a workplace health promotion intervention—the work–life program (WLP)—has been developed to support female workers. Here, we tailored the WLP to the needs of female workers in low-paid jobs working at Amsterdam University Medical Center. In an exploratory mixed-methods study with a convergent design, among 56 participants, we used questionnaires before and after the intervention and semi-structured, in-depth interviews to address the following research question: What is the impact of the WLP on the women’s health and work functioning? Our quantitative data showed that menopausal symptoms improved significantly after the WLP. Our qualitative data, derived from 12 participants, showed that the WLP initiated a process of mental empowerment that initiated positive changes in four domains: behavior, physical health, mental wellbeing, and in the workplace. Taken with caution, our findings suggest that the WLP mentally empowers female workers to make choices that enhance their health and wellbeing, both at work and in their private lives, as summarized in the quote of one participant: “I get that spirit in me!”.

Suggested Citation

  • Marjolein Verburgh & Petra Verdonk & Yolande Appelman & Monique Brood-van Zanten & Karen Nieuwenhuijsen, 2020. "“I Get That Spirit in Me”—Mentally Empowering Workplace Health Promotion for Female Workers in Low-Paid Jobs during Menopause and Midlife," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-21, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:18:p:6462-:d:409182
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6462/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6462/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mishra, Gita & Kuh, Diana, 2006. "Perceived change in quality of life during the menopause," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 93-102, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beatrice I. J. M. Van der Heijden & Karen Pak & Mónica Santana, 2021. "Menopause and Sustainable Career Outcomes: A Science Mapping Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-21, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rebecca Lee Smith & Lisa Gallicchio & Susan R Miller & Howard A Zacur & Jodi A Flaws, 2016. "Risk Factors for Extended Duration and Timing of Peak Severity of Hot Flashes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Clare Butler, 2020. "Managing the Menopause through ‘Abjection Work’: When Boobs Can Become Embarrassingly Useful, Again," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 696-712, August.
    3. Stefania D’Angelo & Gregorio Bevilacqua & Julia Hammond & Elena Zaballa & Elaine M. Dennison & Karen Walker-Bone, 2022. "Impact of Menopausal Symptoms on Work: Findings from Women in the Health and Employment after Fifty (HEAF) Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Sara Viotti & Gloria Guidetti & Ilaria Sottimano & Lucia Travierso & Mara Martini & Daniela Converso, 2021. "Do Menopausal Symptoms Affect the Relationship between Job Demands, Work Ability, and Exhaustion? Testing a Moderated Mediation Model in a Sample of Italian Administrative Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-14, September.
    5. Sezer Kısa & Simge Zeyneloğlu & Nurgul Ozdemir, 2012. "Examination of midlife women's attitudes toward menopause in Turkey," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 148-155, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:18:p:6462-:d:409182. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.