WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE\MIDDLE AGED WOMEN AND MENOPAUSE VIDEO

OVER 40 MILLION AMERICAN WOMEN WILL ENTER THEIR 40S IN THE NEXT TWO DECADES, AND THE SUBJECT OF MENOPAUSE IS SUDDENLY BECOMING A TOPIC OF INCREASED INTEREST. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A VIDEOTAPE DESIGNED TO INFORM THE GENERAL POPULATION ABOUT MENOPAUSE AND THE HEALTH OF MID-AGED WOMEN. THIS VIDEOTAPE IS AN EXTENSION OF A 9-YEAR INVESTIGATION OF THE NATURAL EPIDEMIOLOGY OF MENOPAUSE CONDUCTED BY INVESTIGATORS AT THE NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH INSTITUTE. NERI FOLLOWED 2,500 RANDOMLY SELECTED WOMEN BETWEEN THE AGES OF 45-55 YEARS AS THEY APPROACHED AND EXPERIENCED MENOPAUSE. SPECIFIC AIMS OF THIS PHASE I SBIR ARE: 1) TO DEVELOP A SCRIPT FOR A VIDEOTAPE COVERING THE TOPICS RELATED TO MENOPAUSE AND MID-AGED WOMEN IN GENERAL; 2) TO ESTABLISH TWO FOCUS GROUPS (A GROUP OF PHYSICIANS AND SCIENTISTS AND A TARGET GROUP OF WOMEN CONSUMERS) TO EVALUATE THE SCRIPT FOR ACCURACY, COMPREHENSIBILITY AND INTEREST LEVEL; 3) TO FINALIZE THE SCRIPT BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FOCUS GROUPS, AND 4) TO DEVELOP A PLAN AND SCHEDULE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THE VIDEOTAPE IN PHASE II.