Women in Midlife Transition: How Twill Care Sees & Supports You

In our youth-obsessed culture, it’s not uncommon for women, after they reach a certain age, to start to feel a little unseen. As Valerie Albarda writes in The Huffington Post, the media “perpetuate[s] this myth, which has become entrenched in our psyche, that we’re only vital when we’re young...we tend to buy into this and actually expect to feel bad when we reach midlife.” Or worse than bad—invisible. It’s a strange paradox, given that many of us hit our stride personally and professionally and feel like we’re in the prime of our lives when we’re in our 40s and 50s.

On top of that, our bodies undergo major changes during menopause, and even though we know those changes are natural, they still can be jarring. And not just physically— many women report feeling "isolated and unmoored." And there are not a lot of resources to help us navigate the process. 

Until now.  

As Chief Product Officer of Twill, I saw a need to develop a dedicated platform to support women and help them feel seen and heard as they go through this midlife transition. So we created Twill Care for Women & Midlife, a care community focused on meeting the needs of perimenopausal, menopausal, and post-menopausal women. It's an online space for women ages 40 to 65 years old to connect, get information they can trust from healthcare professionals, and access Twill’s evidence-based, self-care tools.  

What is Twill Care?

Twill Care is a healthcare platform that delivers community-based digital support. Twill Care embraces a holistic approach, providing members with science-backed information, content, games, activities, meditations, and trackers to help with managing symptoms. People can join multiple communities based on their health conditions within the Twill Care app. We introduced our first community, Twill Care for Psoriasis, in July 2020; Twill Care for Women & Midlife is our second to launch (and we have several others in development). 

Twill Care is a lively community where people can exchange personal insights, ask what’s working for others, and share what’s helped them. The platform includes influencers, or “Helpers,'' who are further along in their patient journey and can provide emotional support. Twill Care is also a channel for receiving information from healthcare professionals; each community includes clinical experts who contribute posts about what they’ve found helpful for their own patients, as well as research, industry news, and general disease education.

Twill Care identifies content and tools most useful to members, customizing their experience. Through AI and machine learning algorithms, the platform can suggest treatment options, behavioral interventions, condition-specific tools, or interactions with patients who have similar journeys. Based on the member’s interactions, Twill Care keeps learning from the data to gain insights about their progress, measure their improvement, and continue serving up relevant recommendations.

How Twill Care Supports Women’s Health 

More than 4,000 women enter menopause every day in the United States, but only one in five OB/GYN residency programs provide menopause training to support them, according to AARP. 84% of women experience menopause symptoms, and more than one in ten (12%) say their symptoms can be severe or debilitating. Twill Care for Women & Midlife addresses the unmet needs of these women by weaving together chronic condition management tools with medical and mental health support.

Twill Care Women & Midlife members can communicate with an array of specialized healthcare professionals—such as OB/GYNs, mental health experts, ophthalmologists, and nutritionists—about concerns related to menopause, as well as bone health, cardiovascular issues, mental health, insomnia, and migraines. The platform provides a forum where they can discuss the physical, emotional, and life changes they are experiencing and develop meaningful connections with others in the same phase of life. 

Original content (articles, infographics, and videos) is another benefit that keeps members coming back. Everything is clinically reviewed and written in approachable, easy-to-understand language, covering topics like sleep, diet, stress management, career, relationships, and family. A few of the most popular articles so far are:

• 5 Reasons You Can’t Sleep—and What to Do About Them
• The 4 Most Important Exercises You Should Be Doing After 50
• 7 Menopause Symptoms Caused by Your Changing Hormones
• Manage Your Stress by Managing Your Diet

Inspiring Women—and Creating a New Way to Support

Twill Care for Women & Midlife's combination of resources, services, and tools, coupled with a robust community, supports women by giving them a safe sounding board where they can be heard and uplift one another. We are thrilled to grow our Twill Care portfolio with this offering, and will continue developing communities for additional chronic disease areas and populations. We believe that by bringing people together and giving them the tools and information they need to thrive, we can empower them to live healthier, happier lives.