Women’s health, alcohol and midlife risk

Women’s alcohol-related harm is rising, particularly among those in midlife who are experiencing perimenopause and menopause alongside trauma, mental ill-health, caring pressures and social isolation. Too often, these intersecting factors go unrecognised within alcohol and drug services, leading to missed risk, late presentation and poorer outcomes.

Our consultancy service

Alcohol Change UK has led pioneering system-change work with Hywel Dda University Health Board to support services to become perimenopause and menopause aware, embedding women’s health into substance use pathways in a way that is trauma-informed, evidence-based and practically deliverable.

Our consultancy support can include:

  • Supporting services to understand the link between hormonal change, alcohol use and relapse risk, particularly for women aged 40–55.
  • Embedding routine, sensitive enquiry and data collection around perimenopause and menopause within alcohol and drug services, helping to surface previously hidden need.
  • Developing women-centred pathways and group interventions, creating safe spaces for women to explore health, recovery and wellbeing without stigma.
  • Strengthening workforce confidence to have informed, non-judgemental conversations about menopause, medication, mental health and substance use.
  • Improving integration with primary care and women’s health services, ensuring clearer referral routes and more joined-up support.
  • Supporting commissioners to evidence unmet need, improve equity of access, and design services that reflect the lived experience of women.

This work recognises that for many women, alcohol use is not the primary issue but a coping response to unmanaged physical and emotional change. Addressing women’s health is therefore not an optional add-on, but a critical component of effective prevention, treatment and recovery.

Our focus is on practical system change: improving identification of risk, reducing harm, and ensuring women are supported earlier, more appropriately and with dignity.

Get in touch

If you are interested in this or any other service, please reach out to our Consultancy and Training team on [email protected] and they will be able to provide you with further information and answer any questions you have.