Hack menopause with AARP Innovation Labs and win up to $16,000 in cash prizes!
1 Billion
It’s a number too big to brush off. By the year 2025, there will be 1 billion women globally experiencing the symptoms of menopause. Menopause is a stage of life that nearly every woman will experience. Yet, this very natural phase in a woman’s life is often not discussed nor well understood.
This topic has lived in the shadows for way too long - and it’s time to shine a light on it. AARP Innovation Labs is diving in head first, to open the dialogue, making it okay to talk about, and seeking solutions that help women manage their symptoms.
Read the Menopause Research Study
Let’s hack menopause
You may have heard about hot flashes, but there are actually more than 35 symptoms associated with menopause - things like insomnia, panic, brain fog, hair loss, acne, mood swings, night sweats, and loss of libido. In fact, there are so many symptoms and the transition is so misunderstood that many women often don’t even realize they are in perimenopause (the main event of menopause, when all of these symptoms come on). Everyone’s experience is different, and there’s no real way to predict which symptoms you will get, nor how mild or strong they will be. It can start as early as in a woman’s late 30s, but more commonly occurs in her early to mid-40s.
So, what’s a menopausal woman to do? There are medical solutions, such as hormone replacement, but most women choose not to go this route, for a variety of reasons. That leaves them with a handful of other solutions - like supplements, fans, cooling pajamas, sleep aids. Right now, femtech is heavily weighted toward the fertility years, but some savvy engineers are beginning to develop tech to address the symptoms of menopause. Good thing, too, since a recent AARP study found that 93% of menopausal women are interested in a tech solution to help manage symptoms.
Why now?
It’s time we developed innovative solutions for women in this phase of life. We invite you to join us in exploring how tech can positively impact this relatively unaddressed market, and give women control, comfort, and wellness during menopause.
Femtech is one of the fastest growing sectors in technology. Projected to be over $50B by 2025, this is an opportunity to get in on the front end of tech specifically addressing menopause!
Hacking Menopause Challenge
Want to tackle a problem that impacts 1 BILLION women worldwide? You might already have something that could work as-is, or could be adapted to address one or more of the 35 symptoms. The women in your life will thank you.
The team at AARP Innovation Labs launched the Hacking Menopause Challenge with Hackster.io to find engineers, developers, designers and creative thinkers to build tech-enabled solutions that help women experiencing perimenopause and menopause symptoms, and is offering $16,000 in cash prizes.
Dates: January 8 – April 12, 2020
Contest: To create a non-invasive physical solution and or product that tackles the symptoms of menopause giving women a sense of control, comfort, or wellness
See AARP 2019 Menopause Study & more: www.hackingmenopause.com
Register and find out more about the challenge at https://www.hackster.io/contests/aarpmenopause
More Information about Menopause
Check out these resources for information and inspiration for hacking menopause.