Dr Maria Tomlinson

Hi, I'm Dr. Maria Tomlinson!

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I research online and offline communication about women's health (including menstrual health, menopause, and chronic illness) and the impact of this communication on social inequalities.

 

I am currently based at the University of Sheffield in the UK, but also collaborate with national and international organisations. My research has shaped menstrual education and period product access in the UK, menstrual equity in workplaces, and how organisations communicate about menstrual health online.

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For me, research is not only about shedding light on issues but also using those findings to support participants and their communities in achieving the social change that they would like to see. I really enjoy collaborating with organisations to improve health education, wellbeing, and access to healthcare. At the moment, I'm working with the amazing Irise International on the Period Confident Schools Programme. This combines a fantastic menstrual health curriculum for years 4-7 (based on my research and a co-created curriculum with a primary school teacher - Belszki) and Irise's UK Schools Toilet Policy Toolkit.

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My last project (funded by the Leverhulme Trust) explored the impact of the menstrual movement, social media, and journalism on young people's knowledge and perceptions of menstruation as well as related health and social issues (including period poverty, endometriosis, reusable products, and transgender people who menstruate). I conducted interviews with 32 activists in the UK, focus groups with 77 teenagers, and examined discourses on social media. I've published these findings as a book: The Menstrual Movement in the Media: Reducing Stigma and Tackling Social Inequalities (2025, Palgrave Macmillan).

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