Therapeutic value of adjustment practices and copining with grand children for menopausal women in Nigeria

Abstract

Menopause is one of the stages of human development and is full of encounters, tasks and challenges; it could be different from the encounter of the preceding stages of life. This study examined the therapeutic value of adjustment practices toward menopause and evaluates the effectiveness of health education on coping methods among menopausal Nigeria women. Women aged 40 years and above who had stopped menstruating for twelve consecutive months prospectively studied in Nigeria across geo political zone over a three years period (February 2007 to march 2010). The mean ages of study and control groups were 57.2±1.2 and 58.2±1.9 years, respectively, There was a statistically significant increase in the study respondents’ adjustment practices towards menopause from 56 (31.5%) to 150 (86.7%) postintervention (p value = 0.000001), At both pre- and post-intervention studies, menopausal women with post- secondary education ranked first in their adjustment practices towards menopause A significant percentage of the respondents in the study group are better adjusted to menopause after health education intervention on coping methods as compared with control group. At pre-interventions all other respondents had poor adjustment practices except for those with post secondary education who had mean score above 40.0. This showed the impact of health education intervention on the sample population. This corroborated Giwa-Osaige’s findings that women generally irrespective of educational status had poor reproductive health seeking behaviors. However, health education intervention on coping and adjustment practices had a significant impact on menopausal women. In conclusion; the respondents had poor adjustment practices towards menopause with mixed feelings about religious obligation and cohabitation. Menopausal women in Nigeria expressed significant good adjustment practice after serial adjustment intervention. Whereas there was more adjustment needs for the control group

Key words; coping with grand children, adjustment practices, menopausal women