Having focusing on an interdisciplinary activity in climacteric women's attention in a health public organization in Rio de Janeiro between 1990-1995, we have observed that the gender's construction had a significant influence in women's daily lives and that most of them had a negative social representation of the menopause. They talked about their fears of the menopause consequences. When we know social representations about menopause, we can access the effectiveness of the discourse about women's physicals and psychological changes during this period life and establish more efficient and communicative exchanges between all the people concerned and the health workers to build new social representations, and help women to express the emotions resulting from the "battle of mind" fought in all their relationships. This would firstly enable them to take an active part in their health promotion, and, secondly improve the way health's workers approach the matter.
Health promotion; Social representations; Educative practices; Gender; Menopause
