ERIC Number: EJ1431914
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Sep
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1354-4187
EISSN: EISSN-1468-3156
Menstruation and Learning Disability across the Life Course: Using a Two-Part Scoping Exercise to Co-Produce Research Priorities
British Journal of Learning Disabilities, v52 n3 p524-537 2024
Background: Across the life course, women and girls with learning disabilities and their carers report difficulties in accessing information and support with menstruation, yet their experiences are often overlooked in initiatives to improve menstrual health and wellbeing. Our aim was to collaborate with women with learning disabilities to co-produce future research priorities in a UK context. Methods: We undertook a two-part scoping exercise to explore what is known about this topic from a life course perspective, beginning pre-menarche and extending to post-menopause support. This combined a rapid scoping review of the literature since 1980 with a stakeholder consultation where people with learning disabilities, family carers, advocacy groups and staff working across education, health and social care were invited to share their experiences of menstruation support. Findings: UK and international literature provided insight across five narrative themes. Seventy stakeholders took part in our consultation, enabling the identification of five key themes. Findings across both highlight examples of supportive practice and valued resources alongside enduring health inequalities and barriers to menstruation support faced by women and girls with learning disabilities across the life course. Conclusion: Our scoping exercise identified multiple gaps in research and practice, ongoing reproductive health inequalities and a need for improved access to peer support, resources and training that take a life course approach. The scoping exercise indicates the need for further empirical research on menstruation and learning disability, with a particular focus on collating people's lived experiences.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Females, Learning Disabilities, Physiology, Health Education, Advocacy, Stakeholders, Attitudes, Caregiver Attitudes, Access to Education, Literature Reviews
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A