HerHealth: "Women's health is an economic factor"
The "HerHealth" lecture series focuses on women's health. The initiators are pme nutritional therapist Giannina Schmelling and pme trainer Beatrix von Rantzau. In this interview, they explain why they launched a series of events for women's health and why the topic is economically valuable for companies.
What does women's health mean to you?
Giannina Schmelling: For me, women's health means recognizing that women have different needs than men and responding to them appropriately. These differences deserve to be seen, respected and taken into account in health approaches. Women go through different phases in their lives that are accompanied by profound changes - be it through menstruation, the menopause or possibly pregnancy and breastfeeding. These phases should not be ignored and run alongside, but actively embraced.
The important thing is: Not every woman is the same!
A holistic approach to women's health therefore means looking not only at gender-specific aspects, but also at the individuality of each and every woman.
Another aspect of women's health is to raise awareness of diseases that affect women. These include PCOS, PMDS and endometriosis. One particularly striking example is endometriosis, a disease that affects around one in ten women. This makes it just as common as diabetes. But while diabetes is common knowledge, very few people can explain what endometriosis is and what effects it has.
How do you define women's health in the corporate context?
Beatrix von Rantzau: Looking at the topic of women's health opens up a broad field of related individual, social and economic-organizational issues. For me, it is about how women fare in the various phases of their lives and whether they can shape these phases in a healthy and self-determined way according to their personal preferences, for example with regard to the compatibility of care work and paid work.
Women's health is particularly important in the context of work and the growing skills gap. In Germany, we have a large so-called hidden reserve of women in the labor market: 1.2 million women between the ages of 25 and 59 do not participate in the workforce, even though they want to work and are often well educated. A third of them cite caring for children or relatives as the reason for this, while a fifth cite health restrictions. The current MenoSupport survey suggests that for many women, menopausal symptoms also play a role in their decision to work.
Both work-life balance and hormone health are therefore essential fields of action for organizations in the war for talent. The distribution of care work has a major impact on women's workload and opportunities for participation and is therefore the main factor in the gender pay gap and also a reason for the gender health gap. A major McKinsey study from 2024 puts the global economic potential of improved women's health at USD 1 trillion per year.
We see: Women's health is a valuable economic factor.
Why did you initiate this series of events?
Giannina: In my work as a nutritionist, I have noticed more and more often that women try to force themselves into dietary solutions that simply don't suit them. Many recommendations in the health sector are formulated in a general and universal way - for example, that 16:8 fasting is great for everyone or that low carb is the fastest way to lose weight. But "general and universal" in this context often means: for men. Women, on the other hand, are often more sensitive to such diets, which can lead to unwanted hormonal changes.
When it came to the topic of the menopause, I increasingly realized how important this phase of life is and how little it is perceived and taken seriously by those affected. Women complain about complaints such as joint pain, weight gain, especially in the abdomen, and lack of energy and often do not realize that these complaints are related to the hormonal changes of the menopause.
During this phase, many women also often have difficulty concentrating, depressive moods and reduced self-esteem - all possible side effects of hormonal changes. When we think of hot flushes, we immediately think of the menopause, but not when it comes to psychological complaints.
I have observed the same in menstruating women who complain of digestive problems and severe sadness, for example, and do not associate these complaints with the current phase of their cycle. This prompted me to take up the topic of empowering women with knowledge about their own bodies and the different phases of life, enabling them to actively manage their health and make informed decisions.
The female lifecycle is determined by a number of decisive life phases that accompany every woman throughout her entire working life. Our "HerHealth" event series focuses on these milestones and offers important health impulses on the topics of PMS, endometriosis, the desire to have children, pregnancy, menopause, fasting, sport and the menstrual cycle. We shed light on social issues such as the gender pay gap and mental load and show why life-phase-oriented support for women in organizations is worthwhile.
Beatrix: But our client companies have also increasingly requested specialist presentations on women's health. We have responded to this and have given the topic a broad focus.
With our series, we provide a framework and a stage for the complex aspects of women's health. We clarify and contribute to making the topics visible and discussable. Our aim is to raise awareness among organizations and private individuals of the opportunities and potential that exist.
What do you want to achieve with this series of events?
Beatrix: The typical female biography is characterized by burdens associated with hormonal health and care work. This is associated with health burdens and structural disadvantages that men do not have to deal with in this form.
Our approach with the women's series is to first highlight the special features of the female hormonal balance and the resulting complaints and taboos. We also address challenges that affect women in particular, such as the gender data gap.
In medical research, this gender-specific data gap arises, for example, because women are underrepresented in studies or gender-specific differences are given little consideration. This has corresponding consequences with regard to the tolerability, effectiveness and side effects of medication and also on diagnostics: heart attacks, for example, are often not detected in time in women because they have different symptoms to men.
The so-called Never Right Age Bias also plays a role. This refers to the age-related discrimination of women in professional life, which means that they experience career disadvantages at every stage of their lives, e.g. due to caring responsibilities or the menopause.
With an awareness of these connections and suitable support solutions, great potential for the world of work can unfold:
- Well-being, motivation and performance increase.
- Days of absence are falling.
- Female labor force participation can increase.
- Company performance improves through more diverse leadership.
- Employer attractiveness increases.
What is the feedback so far?
Giannina: Customer feedback on the events so far has been consistently positive and encouraging. It shows that our offer is met with great interest and offers real added value. This feedback motivates us to further expand our offering and address even more important topics that offer our participants real added value.
But what about the men?
Giannina : Men's health is of course just as important as that of women and any other gender! It's generally about understanding the different needs and challenges of all genders.
We already know a lot more about men's health. Nutritional approaches (e.g. low carb, intermittent fasting) have often been tested on men and optimized for them. What is missing, however, are specific, scientifically sound approaches for women that meet their particular needs. Women's health is therefore simply receiving more attention at the moment in order to close existing gaps.
Anyone who feels addressed by the topics is therefore cordially invited to attend the presentations. The HerHealth event series is a step towards a holistic approach to health that leaves no one behind.
What other events are you planning in this context in 2025?
Beatrix: In the coming months, there will be talks on topics such as sport in harmony with the menstrual cycle, PMS, endometriosis, the desire to have children and the menopause. The well-known gynaecologist Dr. Konstantin Wagner will be a speaker in our program and women's health will also be a topic at the virtual Health Day in October.
On Equal Pay Day in March, we will focus on the links between the gender care gap and the gender pay gap and shed light on which social approaches can help us make progress here. I expect that in 2026 we will increasingly be on site in companies to raise awareness of women's health among managers and teams. There is a lot of interest from companies.
How important is it to promote dialog about women's health in a professional environment?
Beatrix: This is very important because it brings benefits for the individual, in the team and at an organizational level.
Firstly, we can reduce the reluctance to talk about stress and complaints. An open approach can bring personal relief - if only because you don't feel alone with your burden. 67.6 percent of women would like to deal openly with the menopause at work, but 52.1 percent feel left alone with the issue at work. (Editor's note: Read more about this in the article "Female lifecycle management: strategies and tips").
Secondly , dialog creates a better understanding of each other within the team. This strengthens cooperation, promotes mutual support and can prevent conflicts. If we know that our colleague suffers from severe hot flushes, we may find it less annoying that she frequently opens the window.
Thirdly, there is the economic potential, e.g. for women going through the menopause: According to the Menosupport survey, 24 percent of women are considering reducing their working hours due to menopausal symptoms, and 19.4 percent even want to retire early. A dialog and supportive offers therefore also help to retain employees.
