Carlow speaker added to panel for national conference on menopause
A Carlow speaker has been announced as one of the speakers among leading advocates, clinicians, facilitators and professionals in the area of perimenopause and menopause, the inaugural National Menopause Summit supported by M&S will take place n The Round Room at The Mansion House in Dublin City on Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Featuring the Davina McCall and moderated by leading journalist and broadcaster Gráinne Seoige, the National Menopause Summit supported by M&S has announced what it described as the best in class agenda for next month’s event and new speaker additions to the exceptional line-up including Aveen Bannon founder and dietitian at the Dublin Nutrition Centre who is currently considered one of the top dietitian's in the country, and leading experts in the area of menopause care and women’s health including heart health, pelvic floor health, posture and women’s physical wellness.
Announced as part of the event line-up is Carlow’s Sarah Alcock, personal trainer and perimenopause to post-menopause women’s wellness coach of Primefit by Sarah.
It was Sarah’s own journey through perimenopause that inspired her to become a qualified specialist in the field of movement, strength, nutrition, and health for the midlife woman.
Sarah as a personal trainer, and a woman experiencing perimenopause, knew professionally and personally that women in our demographic were underserved and underrepresented and there was so much more that could be done to better her health and the health of all women on this same journey.
Through comprehensive training and education, Sarah is one of a very few personal trainers in Ireland certified in coaching women through the Peri to Post Menopause transition from an evidence-based standpoint.
Sarah is a champion for women in their midlife, their health, their wellbeing, and their empowerment to navigate their own journey in the healthiest way possible.
Founder and co-director of the National Menopause Summit supported by M&S, Sinead McNamara said of the summit’s agenda: “Attendees of the National Menopause Summit can expect inclusive fact based information and best in class knowledge from Ireland’s leading experts in the area of perimenopause and menopause to support them in both their personal and professional lives. The summit’s full day event will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions, with the morning focusing on menopause in the workplace and the afternoon on the journey through menopause.”
Championing for a new norm across the Irish workplace, the National Menopause Summit will advocate for the introduction of inclusive, compassionate and sympathetic work policies to ensure all feel enabled, empowered and supported to forge forward in their careers.
Expert speakers in the area of Menopause in the Workplace will include Loretta Dignam, founder and CEO of The Menopause Hub, Joanne Healy head of group employee relations at Bank of Ireland, Katie Ridge head of employer relations at Adare Human Resource Management, Paula Maher of Dun Laoghaire, Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Karen McGowan President of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and Kay McCarthy Managing Director & Founder MCCP.
The afternoon session is entitled The Journey Through Menopause and will feature the much-anticipated conversation with Davina McCall and her own powerful menopause story.
The Journey Through Menopause will also provide vital fact based information on menopause symptoms, solutions and complex menopause from Dr Caoimhe Hartley, clinical lead Rotunda Hospital Menopause Clinic and founder of Menopause Health, and Dr Deirdre Lundy lead medical officer for the Complex Menopause Service at the National Maternity Hospital Holles Street.
Sallyanne Brady, one of Ireland’s leading menopause advocates and founder of The Irish Menopause, will also share her inspirational journey on how she launched the topic of menopause from the shadows and into the public consciousness.
Sinead McNamara continued: “The afternoon session will also feature key content delivered by one of Ireland’s leading dietitian’s Aveen Bannon on the importance of good nutrition during menopause. The packed agenda will also include advice from leading experts in crucial areas such as heart health with Janis Morrissey director of health promotion at the Irish Heart Foundation, pelvic floor health with Maeve Whelan of Milltown Physiotherapy, the importance of posture and breast health with chartered physiotherapist Siobhan O’Donovan from PostureFitting Physio, the importance of maintaining muscle mass while we age with personal trainer and perimenopause to post-menopause women’s wellness coach Sarah Alcock of Primefit by Sarah and the role of GPs in menopause care from Dr Brian Kennedy founder of HRT Prescribers .”
Comedian Deirdre O’Kane will close out the day with a stand-up comedy set musing on all things menopause, midlife and the maelstrom that is modern living.
Frances Deasy, head of marketing and sales at M&S Ireland comments on their lead sponsorship of the inaugural event: “We are proud to support the National Menopause Summit in promoting this vital topic in Ireland, helping to further bring this discussion mainstream and shift perceptions in public and the workplace. Open and frank conversations around perimenopause and menopause are essential to normalising what is, after all, a natural biological process.
“As an employer we’re committed to supporting colleagues approaching it, going through it and coming out the other side too. As well as taking proactive steps to tackle the taboo and keeping the conversation alive for all of our colleagues".