New Vest Simulates Hot Flashes And Aims To Get Employees Talking About Menopause

Almost half of the over-50 workforce are women who will experience menopause, and a large majority of these women will experience negative health symptoms like hot flashes. Despite the large numbers of the workforce impacted, menopause and its related health consequences are rarely discussed at work. Developers of a new vest that simulates hot flashes are trying to change that.

Lesley Salem and her organization, UK-based, Over The Bloody Moon, aim to “remove the muddle and stigma out of menopause for individuals and organizations.” Along with design help from Thread Design and funding from Theramex, Salem created the MenoVest to help raise awareness, empathy and male allyship for women going through menopause at work. Heated pads in the vest simulate the experience of a hot flash, allowing anyone to feel one of the most common symptoms of menopause.

Salem says the vest creates an intense heat that rises from the back, then the front and ultimately up to the neck. One version of the vest can be used at work to simulate hot flashes on the job, and another version can be used at home while sleeping to mimic night sweats and promote empathy for the lack of sleep that often accompanies menopause. The overnight vest wakes the wearer with intense hot flashes four and six hours after bedtime.

Men who have tried the vest on the job are sometimes so distracted they cannot work through the hot flashes. “We’ve had reporters who have had to write 1700 words for a newspaper article, and they’ve cheated and taken the vest off,” Salem describes. One British MP who tried the MenoVest described the sensation as “deeply uncomfortable,” and another reported, “If we had this, we’d be complaining a lot.”

Women in menopause don’t just suffer from hot flashes and sleep disturbances but often report difficulty concentrating, mood swings, depression, headaches, racing heart, decreased memory, and less energy. For some women, these symptoms begin years before menopause. Research indicates that Black and Latinx women enter menopause earlier and have longer-lasting, more intense symptoms.

Menopause symptoms can impact careers as well. Studies indicate that one-third to over two-thirds of women believe their job performance was impacted by menopause. The British Medical Association surveyed female doctors of menopause age and found that “a significant number have reduced their hours, left management roles or intend to leave medicine altogether, despite enjoying their careers, because of the difficulties they faced when going through menopause.”

Jeneva Patterson, senior faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, has argued that addressing menopause at work is key to increasing the numbers of women in the C-suite. At a time when women could be reaching the pinnacle of their careers, some feel they need to back off due to menopause symptoms.

Patterson described how menopause symptoms impacted her own career. “When my symptoms began, I was convinced that, at age 48, I had early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Too afraid to discuss my difficulties with anyone at work, I made excuses for my forgetfulness and backed off from a career-enhancing role,” she wrote in Harvard Business Review.

Discussing menopause more openly at work increases coworkers’ empathy and can help women recognize menopause symptoms when they occur so they can seek help to relieve them. Several safe and effective remedies for women experiencing menopause are available, including hormone replacement therapy and lifestyle changes.

Salem hopes her MenoVest will help reduce the taboo surrounding speaking about menopause at work and help menopausal women garner empathy and allies at work. Salem warns those wanting to become allies to menopausal women that they should avoid the temptation to make light of menopause by joking about hot flashes or forgetfulness. Instead, she recommends active listening, compassion and empathy. While raising awareness of menopause at work is essential, Salem also points out that not everyone will want to open up about their own experiences with menopause. Those who prefer to remain silent should also be respected.