Appeal for volunteers for study on working with endometriosis

PhD research student Victoria Williams is exploring the experiences of those working with endometriosis and the influence of menstrual policy.

An endometriosis sufferer herself, she is looking for volunteers to take part in a study over the next year. This is understandably a subject close to her heart, with her work already having been referenced in a Parliamentary debate in the latter part of 2019.

Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting one and a half million women in the UK, predominantly of working age. Despite experiencing invisible, fluctuating and debilitating symptoms on a regular basis, many women continue to work in pain, or need to alter working patterns to accommodate symptoms such as becoming part-time, self-employed or leaving the workforce entirely.

Her study aims to:

• provide an account of what people are battling in their working lives with endometriosis.
• reflect on inclusive practices available for people with endometriosis before, during, and after the coronavirus (Covid-19).
• help raise awareness among practitioners and policy makers to attend to endometriosis and improve support in the workplace.
• develop recommendations for practices and policies that could better accommodate and empower people with endometriosis in the workplace, in ways that are supportive of their health and well-being, as well as their careers.

Please get in touch with me if you are aged 18-49 with medically diagnosed endometriosis as I’m looking for 15-20 people for this longitudinal study. I want the sample to be as diverse as possible to reflect the community and different working sectors across the UK so I’m hoping to attract interest from a wide enough pool.

Victoria Williams
PhD research student, OUBS

Victoria had helped arrange an awareness event on campus in Milton Keynes in March, ‘Managing Endometriosis at Work’ (#EndoWorkTaboo), which unfortunately had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. A panel discussion featuring experts and fellow endometriosis sufferers was to be chaired by Professor Jo Brewis, one of Victoria’s supervisors for her PhD.