MenoPROMPT: co-design of a digital menopause pre-consultation tool for Australian general practice

Key elements of the tool include the use of signposting, clear language and logical sequencing of questions.</p> <p>The tool will be trialed in a pilot implementation study in 10 general practice clinics over a period of 12 months. Qualitative interviews will focus on the tool’s functionality and workflow in practice.</p> <p>This study was performed because we know menopause can be hard to talk about for some women and their general practitioner (GP).

In the study, we created an online tool consisting of a questionnaire about symptoms of menopause, to help get these conversations started. It is designed to be filled out prior to an appointment with a GP, and so is called a pre-consultation tool.</p> <p>Co-design is a process where everyone who will be affected by a project is involved in its creation, to ensure it is useful and relevant. This study brought together four GPs and eight women who have experienced symptoms of menopause.

They worked together over three online Zoom sessions, guided by two researchers, to design the MenoPROMPT pre-consultation tool. Women with experience of menopause wanted the tool to make other women feel that discussing menopause symptoms is normal, similar to other health screening like the pap smear/cervical screening test. GP participants gave feedback to ensure the tool was medically accurate, and that its workflow would be feasible in clinics.

Together, participants discussed aspects such as language and the sequence of questions to make the tool as easy to use as possible.</p> <p>The participants agreed on a final version of the pre-consultation tool as a group. It will now be tested in 10 general practice clinics over a period of 12 months. We will seek feedback from patients and GPs at these clinics to improve the tool further.</p>