Menopausal women's positive experience of growing older

Objective: This paper aims to describe menopausal women's positive experience of growing older and becoming middle-aged. Methods: Qualitative interviews with 24 menopausal women, selected on the basis of a questionnaire, covering abroad spectrum of Danish women in terms of experience of menopausal symptoms, treatment, contact with the health care system, and social background. Results: The women expressed varied and many-facetted views on ageing and clearly connected the fact that they were menopausal to the ageing process. All, except one, mentioned positive aspects of growing older: 1. they had become more experienced and competent; 2. they had gained more freedom; 3. they perceived possibilities of personal development that made them able to hold on to their own opinions and better speak their minds. The described positive effects were the result of having lived a long life, of good and evil, not of the menopause itself. The women also mentioned negative aspects: 1. negative expectations; 2. negative experiences. Positive aspects, often of psychological or existential nature, seemed to outweigh the negative experiences which were mostly related to bodily changes or losses. Conclusion: This paper discusses the importance of avoiding unnecessary negative expectations of ageing and menopause and of focusing, instead, on the positive aspects of growing older. Health professionals should reconsider the necessity to talk about future risks with healthy women, and instead support the women's agenda when they try to cope with real-life problems. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.