Shawna O’Hearn

Dr. Shawna O’Hearn, Co-Founder and Director of the Menopause Society of Nova Scotia and the Director of Global Health in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University

Shawna is clinically trained as an Occupational Therapist and holds a PhD focused on the experience of perimenopause for Canadian health professionals. Shawna has held leadership positions in government, university, and non-government organizations in Canada and abroad. She has worked and lived in the West Indies, India, West and East Africa as well as Nunavut. Her research explores menopause, women’s health, gender equity, community engagement and diversity. She is passionate about individuals, teams, and systems blossoming to be more equitable and accessible for all. This passion has led her to lead menopause support groups and manager training at Dalhousie University and co-lead a menopause café in Halifax.

O'Hearn, S. (2022) A thesis: Place-Based Experiences in the Work Environment During the Menopausal Transition: A Case Study of Canadian Physiotherapists.

The research aimed to increase understanding of the gendered dimensions of health and wellbeing concerning the transition to menopause within the work environment by using a case study of Canadian physiotherapists. Informed by feminist geography and engaging qualitative methods to address the following objectives: 1) to examine the relationships between aging, gender, health, and wellbeing in the workplace, 2) to explore the experiences of perimenopause for physiotherapists in the Canadian work environment, and 3) to document the perceptions of existing structural support(s) in the workplace shaping physiotherapist’s experiences with the menopause transition.

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