Bioidentical Hormones - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

30
Part I: Materials and Partnership development
OWH formed a working group that included members from CDER, HHS Office on
Women's Health, NIH, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and 25
women's health and health professional organizations. The group was tasked with
identifying the target audience, developing key messages, campaign materials, and
strategies for dissemination.
Rollout of the campaign materials was held on September 9, 2003. Materials included a
fact sheet and a purse guide (discussed below). The targeted audiences were women
ages 40-59, with a dissemination of materials to geographic areas across the U.S. with the
greatest density of women in these age groups. The key messages, which were
confirmed through focus group research, were:
* Menopause and <strong>Hormones</strong>: "What Can You Believe?"
* Get informed
* Talk to your health care professional and decide if hormone therapy is right
for you.
* If you choose to use hormones, use them at the lowest effective dose for the
shortest amount of time needed.
The "Menopause and <strong>Hormones</strong>" fact sheet defines menopause and symptoms, as well as
hormone therapy for menopause. It also describes known benefits and risks of hormone
therapy as well as advises:
* who should not take hormone therapy;
* that the risks and benefits may be the same for all hormone products; and
* that the risks and benefits of "herbs or other natural products" are not currently
known.
The "Menopause and Hormone" purse guide contains questions to facilitate discussion
between the woman and her health care professional on whether use of hormone therapy
is appropriate. It also provides an area for taking notes, suggests other beneficial health
tests or screening that could be discussed during the visit and provides federal resources
to find more information on hormone therapy for menopause.