Women's Health Care Professional Event

Jane Packer, Specialist Occupational Therapist provides an update on the first ever Women’s Health Professional Care event at Olympia, partnered with the Best Practice London event.

I was lucky enough to attend the first ever Women’s Health Professional Care event at Olympia, partnered with the Best Practice London event. It was great to hear so many experts talking about their specialist fields of knowledge. This further enhanced my understanding of conditions I often come across in my day to day role as an Occupational Therapist working in fatigue and energy management.

One of the most popular attractions was the Menopause Theatre, with all the talks chaired by Dr Louise Newson, creator of the Balance Menopause app and a font of knowledge on all things menopause. It was fascinating hearing about the history of menopause, the different treatments that have been used over the years and how things have so rapidly moved on in the last 5-10 years. It is truly amazing to think about all the different ways that menopause affects women and also how it can impact other pre-existing conditions, including women’s mental health and energy levels.

Another interesting talk was on gender bias in women’s pain management with some very interesting statistics and facts, including the fact that paracetamol trials were done exclusively on men!

Over in the Best Practice London event, I also managed to get to a talk on Long COVID, “What we have learnt so far”. Presented by Dr Melissa Heightman, who set up one of the first Long COVID clinics in Central London, this offered a very valuable insight into how many people are still suffering with Long COVID. It reinforced what we are seeing at South Coast Fatigue where we are experiencing a huge increase in referrals from people suffering with Long COVID.

All in all, I think it was a very successful first event for Women’s Health Professional Care and I hope to return next year!