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Whole-person strengths, challenges, and needs across the reproductive lifespan: A cross-sectional consumer-generated
Robin R Austin1, Meijia Song1, Malin Britt Lalich1
1University of Minnesota, School of Nursing, 308 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Objectives:
The reproductive lifespan encompasses important transitions in women's health, including midlife and menopause, yet whole-person strengths, challenges, and unmet needs across this continuum remain poorly characterized. This study examined multidimensional self-reported health profiles across three age-based groups representing different stages of adult life.
Study Design:
Retrospective comparative study using de-identified consumer-generated health data from the MyStrengths+MyHealth digital assessment, a validated whole-person tool grounded in the Omaha System. Data were collected from community-based settings in a Midwestern metropolitan area (2019-2023). Women were categorized by age as a proxy for reproductive stage: reproductive-aged (25-44, n = 253), midlife (45-64, n = 329), and later adulthood (65+, n = 124). Group differences in Strengths, Challenges, and Needs across four whole-person health domains were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Main Outcome Measures:
Self-reported domain-level Strengths rating, Challenge counts, and Need counts across 37 health concepts.
Results:
Later adulthood and midlife women reported significantly higher Strengths than reproductive-aged women (p < 0.001). Reproductive-aged women reported the greatest burden of Challenges (M = 44.9, SD = 32.0) and Needs (M = 33.6, SD = 22.7) distributed across the widest range of health concepts (all p < 0.001). Exercise was the most prevalent Challenge across all groups. Midlife women generated the highest total volume of Needs at the population level.
Conclusions:
Whole-person consumer-generated health data suggest that substantial challenges and unmet needs emerge well before midlife, underscoring the potential value of upstream, strengths-based, and personalized interventions to promote resilience and healthy aging across the reproductive lifespan. Additional longitudinal and population-based studies are needed to confirm these findings and evaluate their implications for clinical practice.
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