The Sweet Spot • Hey You Note

Is Menopause Research Finally Catching Up to Women?

By Jenn Board, author of Silent to Spoken and host of Just Jelly Unfiltered · Published October 24, 2026

Hey you, it’s me! 💋

I’m getting ready to ride a horse and spend the afternoon at the races when I saw the changes happening in women’s health. So, the boots can wait a few minutes. I had to write to you first.

Is menopause research finally catching up to women?

Here is what happened this week. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order creating a Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House Women’s Health Task Force, with First Lady Melania Trump helping lead the effort (according to AP). The order calls for more research into maternal health, mental health, endometriosis, infertility, fibroids and menopause. The policy language itself names women’s changing health needs through midlife, menopause and aging.

Same week, other side of the country. More than 2,000 healthcare professionals were expected in San Diego for The Menopause Society’s 2026 Annual Meeting, which wraps up today. The theme? “Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice.” The program tackled estrogen avoidance, mood, and sleep, plus 30 years of findings from the SWAN study and sexual health across the transition.

Here is why menopause matters to me: I have been in surgical menopause since I was 31. Surgical menopause doesn’t ease you in. It arrives all at once. That is a big part of why I am so passionate about staying up to date on menopause. I went back to school, and now I’m a menopause practitioner. Not because I have every answer, but because no woman should have to figure this out in silence.

What I think

Menopause is in the policy language now. In writing. For a long time, it felt like nobody wanted to say the word out loud, not in the doctor’s office and definitely not in Washington. Research is a beginning, not a finish line. Because women need answers they can actually use when they’re sitting across from their healthcare provider.

A policy only helps us when it reaches the exam room.

So I’ll be watching what comes next. And I’ll keep bringing it to you in plain language.

Menopause Monday is this Monday.

Once a month, I dedicate a whole Monday to menopause awareness. This Monday, here is what is coming:

Menopause Must-Haves: 18 Hot Flash and Sleep EssentialsComing Monday for the nights you are kicking off the covers.

Free Midlife Symptom Tracker: Monthly Printable (PDF)Coming Monday. This is how you bridge the gap yourself. Bring a month of notes to your next appointment instead of “I just feel off.”

And a new Hey You note, “Why Can’t I ‘Fall Back’ to Sleep?”Coming Monday Even the experts in San Diego made sleep part of the conversation.

If you are in menopause, don’t walk it alone

I am here to walk alongside you. Let’s talk.

What’s one menopause symptom you wish someone had taken seriously sooner? Write me back in the Pen Pal section. I read every one.

Until our next chat, just stay sweet!

I love you,
Jenn 💋

P.S. Want more conversations like this on Sunday mornings? Subscribe to The Sunday Scoop 🗞️