Who are we?
MENO-kit has been developed by world-leading academic experts on menopause and work.
The team draws on their training and experience in health, clinical and occupational psychology in their menopause research and practice. They have published their work in high-quality, international, peer-reviewed journals, and authored books and training materials for women and organisations on the topic of menopause.
Their work on menopause has also been recognised by RAND Europe as one of the five most promising work practices in health and well-being and work.
The team has also served as advisors to governments, trade unions, professional bodies, academics and practitioners in the field of occupational health, human resources and medicine. They are often invited to provide training and consultancy services to organisations in the UK.
The team is passionate about sharing their expertise and providing reliable, evidence-based information. They have created this toolkit to help workplaces understand and address menopause without charging any fees. It's a free resource designed to make organisations more menopause-friendly and support women in reaching their full potential at work
Our Team
Dr Claire Hardy
BSc MSc PhD CPsychol AFBPsS SFHEA
Claire is a Senior Lecturer in Organisational Health and Wellbeing within the Division of Health Research, Faculty of Health and Medicine at Lancaster University. Claire's research and consultancy interests over the past 20 years have focused on various aspects of workplace psychology, including employee wellbeing, psychological resilience, international working, workplace interventions and women's health.
In 2018, Claire won the 'Excellence in Occupational Psychology Research' award from the British Psychology Society's Division of Occupational Psychology for her work on menopause and women's health in the workplace. Her research about working women's experience of the menopause has been influential in understanding how to support and talk to women about menopause and work.
Claire's work has been widely published in scientific, peer-reviewed academic journals and has made an impact on national and international levels. She has produced guidance on the topic of menopause and work for the British Menopause Society in 2019 and 2022, is part of international expert groups that have produced global consensus recommendations on menopause in the workplace in 2021, and a recommended menopause curriculum for healthcare professionals in 2022. She actively contributes to advisory and working groups in the UK and in other countries to promote evidence-based practice and policy.
For more information about her research, see Claire’s university profile:
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/health-and-medicine/dhr/people/claire-hardy
Amanda Griffiths
BA MSc PGCE PhD CPsychol AFBPsS FFOM (Hon) FAcSS
Amanda Griffiths is Emeritus Professor of Occupational Health Psychology in the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham. Amanda's research and consultancy interests over the past 35 years have focussed on the management of work-related health and wellbeing. She aims to help employers and other stakeholders manage and support diverse workforces, and explore the impact of policy and guidance on everyday practices in the workplace. Her research about working women's experience of the menopause has been influential in breaking the taboo about menopause and work.
She led the first large-scale study of women’s experiences of working through the menopause in the UK and produced widely used guidance for employers in 2010. She was a contributor to the Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report about women’s health in 2015; this led to the publication of further guidance about work and menopause for women and employers by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (Royal College of Physicians). She is part of an international expert group on menopause that in 2021 developed global consensus recommendations on menopause in the workplace and a recommended menopause curriculum for healthcare professionals. Her research has been widely published and her advice has been influential in guidance produced by many employers and trades unions both in the UK and other countries.
For more information about her research, see Amanda’s university profile:
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine/people/amanda.griffiths1
Myra S Hunter
BA DClinPsych PhD C Psychol FBPsS
Myra S Hunter, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Health Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, has worked as a clinician and researcher in women’s health for over 35 years. Her work has focused on the understanding of the relationships between physical and emotional problems, taking account of their sociocultural as well as biological context. She is an international expert in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and how it can be used to help women during the menopause.
She developed the MENOS CBT protocol, which has been recognised, based on her research, as one of the most effective non-hormonal treatment options for women with troublesome menopausal symptoms. She was Expert Psychology Advisor to the Core Development Group for NICE Guidance on Menopause 2015 and is a member of the Menopause Clinical Reference Group, NHS England. She has published extensively on women’s health and menopause, including over 200 journal articles and ten books. This includes the book Managing hot flushes and night sweats: a cognitive behavioural approach to menopause, which she co-authored with Melanie Smith. This book contains a self-help CBT course that has been found to be effective in six clinical trials.
For more information about her research, see Myra’s university profile: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/myra.hunter.htm
Eleanor Thorne
BSc MSc MSc MBPsS
Eleanor is a Research Associate in Organisational Health and Wellbeing at Lancaster University’s Faculty of Health and Medicine.
She is a Researcher and Coach with Master’s degrees in both Occupational Psychology from Goldsmiths University and Health Psychology from King's College London. Eleanor is passionate about wellbeing in the workplace; she has specialist knowledge in women's health at work.
She has published scientific articles on the topic of menopause in the workplace, and has carried out research in the area of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) in the workplace. Her research interests also cover behaviour change in the workplace, evaluating interventions, and the wellbeing of professionals working in healthcare. Eleanor is a graduate member of the British Psychological Society.
For more information about her research, see Eleanor’s university profile:
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/health-and-medicine/about-us/people/eleanor-thorne
Publications
Here is a selection of some of the team's influential publications and outputs on menopause and work. To see the full list of papers by the team, please see their university profile pages.
What do working menopausal women want? A qualitative investigation into women’s perspectives on employer and line manager support
Hardy, C., Griffiths, A., & Hunter, M. S. (2017).
Maturitas, 101, 37-41.
Tackling the taboo: talking menopause-related problems at work
Hardy, C., Griffiths, A., Thorne, E., & Hunter, M. (2018).
International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 12(1), 28-38.
Psychosocial factors and menopause: The impact of menopause on personal and working life
Griffiths, A., & Hunter, M. S. (2015).
Davies SC, Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, 109-20.
Menopause and work: an overview of UK guidance
Hardy, C., Hunter, M. S., & Griffiths, A. (2018).
Occupational Medicine, 68(9), 580-586
Menopause in the workplace: Building evidence, changing workplaces, supporting women
Jack, G., Riach, K., Hickey, M., Griffiths, A., Hardy, C., & Hunter, M. (2021).
Maturitas, 151, 63-64.
EMAS recommendations for conditions in the workplace for menopausal women. Maturitas, 85, 79-81.
Hardy, C., Griffiths, A., Norton, S., & Hunter, M. S. (2018).
Menopause, 25(5), 508-519.
Menopause and the workplace guidance: What to consider
Post Reproductive Health, 26(1), 43-45.
Hardy, C., Griffiths, A., & Hunter, M. S. (2019).
Maturitas, 120, 83-89.
Values & Mission
We are committed to creating informed, supportive and inclusive workplaces for women going through menopause.
We are dedicated to empowering organisations to effectively address menopause in the workplace. As world-renowned experts, we are sharing our knowledge and skills to offer a high-quality, evidence-based online toolkit featuring comprehensive educational resources and expertly-crafted videos that can effectively change beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours about menopause and work.
Our training and resources have been developed through scientific research. We have designed them to be easy to follow and understand, and don’t take too long to complete.
Our goal is to help the UK become an even more menopause-aware and friendly society through well-educated and supportive workplaces.
Feedback
'Take advantage of it. It’s very rare you get such a quality resources for free! And they’ve got real impact.'
Our approach
MENO-kit takes a whole-person approach to managing the menopause in the workplace.
The approach is based on the theory that the menopause is not just a biological event but rather an experience that is influenced by a range of factors. The way that women view their menopause and their mood can influence their experience. In addition, social, cultural and environmental factors in the organisation can have an impact.
MENO-kit focuses on some of the factors that can be changed to help provide a more supportive and inclusive environment for those going through the menopause. Everyone in the organisation can have a part to play in helping to create a menopause-friendly space. Even people not going through the menopause themselves can try out the self-management strategies included in this toolkit to help improve aspects of their work and health.
We want this toolkit to be helpful for everyone.
Feedback
'Menopause is very individual with many women experiencing different symptoms so it's good to see an overview of what a woman might experience when they go through the menopause rather than going on what previous women have told me they've experienced'
History of the toolkit
MENO-kit was developed in a research project funded by the charity Wellbeing of Women. It builds on previous work carried out by the team. This includes Professor Griffiths’ landmark paper exploring women’s experience of menopause and work in the UK and Professor Hunter’s pioneering work on self-help cognitive behavioural interventions for women experiencing problematic hot flushes and night sweats.
2015
In a series of studies that began in 2015 at King’s College London, funded by the charity Wellbeing of Women, the team developed the first evidence-based workplace interventions aimed to make working life better for menopausal women and helping managers improve their knowledge, attitudes and confidence to talk about menopause with fellow employees.
Evaluation studies showed that it achieved those aims. These studies, and others that contributed to their development, have been published by the team in international, peer-reviewed journals.
Their work was also recognised as one of five most promising work practices in health and wellbeing and work by RAND Europe in their 2018 review (See report by RAND Europe here).
2018 - 24
Following the success of this project, the research team was awarded a second project grant by Wellbeing of Women to develop a user-friendly toolkit that organisations could use independently.
They undertook further studies to help inform the development of this toolkit. Using their previous work, their new findings, and evidence published by other expert researchers, the team has developed this toolkit.
IIn 2024, the toolkit was piloted with 8 UK organisations for 6 months to evaluate it and understand how organisations used it.
2025
In early 2025, the pilot research phase was concluded. The feedback and results showed positive results and feedback from the organisations and users of the toolkit.
Suggestions for improvements to the toolkit were taken on board and incorporated into the toolkit. The toolkit was then launched and is available to UK organisations that wish to help support menopause within their workplace.
The team is committed to the toolkit’s continuous evaluation and improvement. So please do share your feedback with them via the voluntary questions at the end of each of MENO-kit’s modules.
Feedback
'Although I am aware (as going through it myself) good for it to feel normal in the office. I have male managers doing the training and it’s really good for it not to be a taboo subject and raise awareness (and reduce embarrassment levels)'
Our Advisors
The research team is grateful for the contributions of the advisory group members.
Members include specialist experts, those with lived experiences of menopause and service users. These include menopause experts, researchers, experts in workplace interventions, employment rights and best practices, e-health and human-computer interaction, as well as managers, employees and menopausal women. The group has provided helpful insights into both the design and the delivery of the toolkit, as well as its evaluation.
Acknowledgements
The team would like to thank everyone who has helped the MENO-kit Project.
Thank you to all the actors, the web developer, video producer, graphic designer(s), narrators, extras and other individuals involved in the development of this toolkit and project.
Thank you to our funder, Wellbeing of Women. Thank you also to the organisations and participants who have taken part in all our research studies.
