How Adora is Advocating for Women's Health
We’re celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the pill becoming freely available to all women, by spotlighting an area of health where there is still more focus and understanding needed – the menopause.
Did you know, that 50 years ago this April, the idea of the pill being freely available to unmarried women became a reality thanks to a reorganisation of the NHS?* This transformed the lives of women in the UK by enabling them to make decisions about their own healthcare.
It’s important we continue to shine a light on and celebrate milestones from the past, like this. And it’s also important we recognise how much more progress is still needed on women’s health.
For this reason, we’re celebrating this 50-year anniversary, by spotlighting an area of health where progress is being made, but where there is still more focus and understanding needed – the menopause.
In recent years, the menopause has gone from something women try and cope with quietly, to being more and more spoken about in public, helped by some celebrities opening up about their own experiences.
We caught up with the founder of Adora Digital Health – who created a Menopause Health and Wellbeing platform for the workplace, after realising how inadequate the education, information and care women were receiving was – to talk about why Adora was founded and how it’s helping those going through the menopause.
Ann, what led to you founding Adora Digital Health?
"I started Adora Digital Health as I could not believe the lack of expert information and education available to me when I hit perimenopause. No one was talking about it (this was four years ago) and I became aware of how hard it was for women to receive the care they needed to manage their symptoms. I wanted to be part of the solution, so I set up Adora."
What specific challenges did you identify?
"Many GPs had not been trained to spot the 40-odd symptoms women might present with, so many women were getting terrible advice or being misdiagnosed.
Many people will be aware of hot flushes and changes to periods, and brain fog has become more recognised. But these symptoms are just the tip of the iceberg – and some women may not experience these specifically, but may have an array of other issues that, when presented in isolation, are not recognised as due to menopause.
For example low mood, increased irritability and anxiety can all occur or worsen with the menopause, yet may be diagnosed as anxiety or depression rather than being seen as part of a bigger picture. Similarly, joint pains and sleep issues, palpitations, tinnitus, increased UTIs and vaginal pain are also on the list of known symptoms, which are often treated as individual complaints."
And what are the consequences of this?
"Early diagnosis is important because symptoms can impact a woman’s daily life, with 1 in 10 leaving the workplace. Once a woman has the information and treatment she needs, she can get symptoms back under control and continue to thrive in life. This was the thing that made me start Adora – a menopause platform for women, paid for by employers – to help women continue to have fulfilling lives, not hindered by peri/menopause.
There are also other health benefits to women that come from identifying and treating peri/menopause early, as appropriate treatments can help guard against other risk factors. For example, hormone therapies can reduce the risk of osteoporosis."
How does Adora help those going through menopause?
"The Adora digital health platform uses conversational AI to guide a women through diagnosis and signpost her to personalised content, solutions, advice and online women’s health gynaecologists for expert care. Our lively online workshops mean women are getting answers to their questions, from leading experts, and they're also being supported by other women experiencing similar symptoms. And finally our personalised health reports – unique to each woman’s circumstances – help a woman advocate for what she needs either with her GP or in the workplace.
As well as working with companies, we are also working with the NHS to offer a free-at-point-of-need access model.
When I founded Adora, I had an ambition to provide women with personalised knowledge, skills and confidence to help them manage their peri/menopause. I wanted to make this as easy as possible to access.
I’m delighted that, having successfully launched our menopause platform, we’re opening up access to knowledge and helping build confidence for those facing this journey."
Where do you hope to see menopause diagnosis and treatment go next?
"I envision a future where menopause is a well-understood transition, with routine early screenings and diagnosis, personalised treatment plans, and readily-available resources, empowering women to navigate this stage with minimal disruption to their daily lives."
Editors note:
*While the pill became available on the NHS from 1961, it was at the discretion of individual doctors whether to prescribe this, based on the risks associated with pregnancy for the woman in question. The 1967 Family Planning Act saw family health clinics able to provide advice on contraception to unmarried women, but the stigma associated with accessing contraception remained a significant barrier.
On 1 April 1974, Sir Keith Joseph’s reorganisation of the NHS (in his role as Secretary of State for Health and Social Services) meant “all contraceptive advice and supplies became accessible free-of-charge, regardless of marital status”.
Source: National Archives https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/just-a-pill-60-years-of-the-contraceptive-pill-on-the-nhs/