Is legal cannabis a game-changer for women’s health, what should women know about sexual health after menopause?
Those questions and more will be discussed and debated this Saturday, Oct. 13 during a first-of-its-kind summit focusing on perimenopause and menopause, organized by Shirley Weir, of Port Moody, who is also the founder of Menopause Chicks.
“The event really grew out of my online community. Women are very active, they are asking lots of questions. We created this event to appeal to those women, they are embarking on mid-life and they want health education or they’re through menopause, and in their early 50s, [and asking] now what.”
Called MOKITA: Empowered for Midlife, (with Mokita meaning elephant in the room), the event will be held at the Diamond Family Auditorium on the SFU campus in Burnaby, but will also be live-streamed with similar conferences being held in Toronto and Seattle.
The idea, Weir said, is to provide information and foster open discussion about topics, such as menopause, that are typically taboo. Along the way, she said, she hopes some of the speakers will debunk some of the myths around hormone therapy, cannabis use and assumptions about what happens to women and their bodies at mid-life.
Weir, who is also launching a book she co-wrote with Bob Mehr, owner of Pure Pharmacy, said the conference is geared to a broad range of ages and experience, with women from 35 to 70 likely to learn something of value from the conference.
Keynote speaker Dr. Marla Shapiro, a world-renown health expert and past-president of the North American Menopause Society, is presenting from Vancouver. Other speakers and panel discussions will cover sexual wellness, cannabis, and what’s new in brain, bone, breast, and heart health.
“There’s really no place where women can go to get all this information at one time,” Weir said.
Weir’s new book on the perimenopause, entitled MOKITA, will be included is part of the conference entry fee and will share information to help women build their own mid-life health team.
Tickets are $99 for for the local event ($39 for the live stream) at the Diamond Family Auditorium, 8888 University High Street, Burnaby (SFU campus). In addition to the book, the event price includes lunch, snacks, cocktail party, and other gifts.
