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This systematic review summarises the available evidence about how migrant women perceive and manage their menopausal and postmenopausal health and their experiences with healthcare services; and healthcare providers’ views about delivering menopause-related healthcare to migrant women. Medline, PsychInfo, Embase and Cinahl were searched for peer-reviewed papers published in English. Thirty-one papers were identified reporting on 25 studies. Twenty-three studies reported on investigations examining migrant women's perceptions about menopause, their self-care strategies and their experiences with menopause-related healthcare. Only two papers reported on healthcare providers’ views about providing menopause-related healthcare to migrant women. Most studies with migrant women found that their experiences of menopause and self-care strategies were culturally informed; that migrant women are unlikely to seek out menopause-related healthcare or to initiate conversations about menopause with their healthcare providers; and that most of those who seek menopause-related healthcare are disappointed with the care they receive. Studies assessing menopause-related knowledge found that many migrant women have limited knowledge about menopause and postmenopausal health, and that family and friends are their most common sources of information about menopause. Although healthcare providers were aware that migrant women use traditional remedies to manage their menopausal health and are likely to source menopause-related information from within their communities, they were reluctant to actively promote menopause-related health information due to consultation time constraints and lack of confidence in culturally competent communication. More research with healthcare providers is needed to improve understanding about barriers and facilitators to provide comprehensive menopause-related care to migrant women.

Issue addressed Changes in health require new learning. There are increased risks of chronic noncommunicable diseases after menopause and positive health behaviour during the peri-menopausal years and beyond are crucial for a healthy postmenopausal life. In order to implement health promotion messages, women require adequate health literacy skills in order to achieve better health and access to appropriate health care. Methods This qualitative study explored menopause-related health literacy and experiences of menopause-related health care using semi-structured interviews with women from the Horn of Africa nations who had migrated to Melbourne, Australia. Results Participants viewed menopause as a normal life phase and did not see the need for accessing menopause-related information and care. Limited education, low literacy and being unfamiliar with the internet were barriers to health literacy. Participants' preferred health care providers who could converse in their first language, but regretted their lack of proactive engagement in providing menopause-related information. Conclusion Primary health care providers need to be aware that immigrant women from the Horn of Africa nations have poor health literacy and may be unaware of the benefits of positive health behaviours during and after menopause. Offering menopause-related health promotion opportunistically may lead to better postmenopausal health for this group of women. SO WHAT?: Health promotion and education programs codesigned with community stakeholders may be effective in engaging immigrant communities to improve menopause-related health literacy.

Objectives: Health literacy refers to an individual's capacity to access, understand, evaluate and use health information to make well informed health-related decision to maintain and promote optimal health. Low health literacy is linked with worse health outcomes and is more common in people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and among people with limited education. Peri-menopausal and postmenopausal health behaviour predicts health in later life. This qualitative study was conducted in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of this study was to explore menopause-related health literacy and experiences with menopause-related health care among Vietnamese-born women who had immigrated to Australia as adults.Design: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted with women aged between 45 and 60 years and who were either in the peri or postmenopausal phase. Transcripts were analysed thematically.Results: A total of 12 women were interviewed. Participants viewed menopause as a natural event and obtained most of their menopause-related information from family and friends. Limited English language proficiency affected their capacity to access, understand, evaluate and use menopause-related health information. They identified their Vietnamese speaking General Practitioners (GPs) as a reliable source of health information, but 'shyness' prevented them from asking questions about menopause and they suggested that GPs need to initiate menopause-related health conversations.Conclusion: Low menopause-related health literacy among Vietnamese-born immigrant women may limit their opportunities to access information about and benefit from menopause-related health-promoting behaviours. Access to menopause-related health information in relevant community languages is essential to support immigrant women to make well informed menopause-related health decisions.

There is a knowledge gap about menopause-related health literacy among migrant women. This research explored migrant women’s perceptions of menopause, menopause-related health literacy and experiences with menopause-related health care. 23 women from Vietnam and Horn of Africa nations were interviewed and 139 health practitioners completed a survey. Limited ability to speak English and cultural beliefs influenced health literacy in migrant women. Health practitioners believed that limited information in community languages and short consultations made it difficult to provide menopause-related care to migrant women. The findings inform practice and policies and provide strategies addressing health literacy in primary health care settings.

To systematically review the published literature relating to experiences of menopause, self-management strategies for menopausal symptoms and health-care needs among immigrant women.A systematic literature search of English-language publications was performed using Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, Cinahl and Scopus. Twenty-four papers reporting on 19 studies met our inclusion criteria and investigated immigrant women's experiences of menopause and/or their self-management strategies for menopausal symptoms and/or their perceptions of menopause-specific health care.Of the 19 studies, 15 reported symptoms experienced during the menopausal transition. Three studies included questions regarding self-management strategies for menopausal symptoms and four enquired about perceptions of menopause-specific health care. Although the heterogeneity of the studies makes comparison difficult, their findings are broadly consistent. Immigrant women reported more vasomotor symptoms and other physical symptoms and poorer mental health than non-immigrant women. The few studies that investigated self-management strategies for menopausal symptoms found that these were influenced by culture and those that assessed perceptions of menopause-specific health care found that they were mostly dissatisfied with the care they had received.More research is needed to improve understanding of how immigrant women manage the menopausal transition and how to provide culturally relevant menopause-specific health care.

Health behaviour during midlife is linked to health outcomes in older age. Primary healthcare providers (PHCPs) are ideally placed to provide health-promoting information opportunistically to women in midlife. The aim of this study was to explore PHCPs views about the menopause-related care needs of migrant women from low- and middle-income countries and what they perceive as barriers and enablers for providing this. Of the 139 PHCPs who responded to an anonymous online survey, less than one-third (29.9%) routinely offered menopause-related information during consultations with migrant women. Most agreed that short appointments times (70.8%), lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate menopause information (82.5%) and lack of confidence in providing menopause-related care (32.5%) are barriers for providing comprehensive menopause-related care to migrant women. To overcome these, a menopause-specific Medicare item number and a one-stop website with health information in community languages were suggested. These findings suggest that menopause-related care is not routinely offered by PHCPs to migrant women from low- and middle- income countries and that their capacity to do this may be improved with adequate educational and structural support.

This case study documents the journey of an outreach youth clinic from its inception to its current practice. It reviews the barriers and enablers to attending the outreach youth clinic as well as determining the health concerns that have prompted young people to access the service. A case study method was applied to review agency evaluation reports and open-ended feedback surveys completed by service users. An ongoing reflective health practitioner’s journal was also kept by the clinicians. The results identify sexual and reproductive health, and mental health, as the main concerns for which young people seek help. Additionally, confidentiality and privacy issues are of concern, while parental and caregiver’s understanding acts as an enabler for young people to obtain better health. Multi-agency collaboration is highlighted while the significance of a robust connection between the collaborating services and leadership from the school is also recognised. The outreach youth clinic is providing a youth-specific service that has had good utilisation. However, a solid collaboration with the school and the community health sector is crucial if a service such as this is to be maintained and sustained.