Men's Good Health

Every day, in the UK, according to the charity, Men’s Health Forum 330 men die prematurely before their 75th birthday; one, every four and a half minutes. Men are more likely to be overweight than women and they are twice as likely to develop heart disease before retirement age. They are also more likely to develop and then die from a non-sex-specific cancer such as bowel cancer.

Under the age of 45, men visit their GP only half as often as women. They also under-use all the primary care services including pharmacists and NHS direct and they are less likely to seek help for mental health problems. They are also frequently absent from weight management, smoking cessation and Chlamydia screening programmes. Who is most likely to diagnose diabetes in a man? The optometrist.

Avoidance might be no bad thing - so long as the life that is lived is reasonably healthy and for many men, that’s not the case. A five year study of finding new ways of encouraging men to look after their health was recently completed in the Bradford area and evaluated by the Centre for Men’s Health at Leeds Metropolitan University (A K White P Branney (2008) The Bradford Health of Men: A study of its Effectiveness in engaging with men Centre for Men’s Health Leeds Metropolitan University ).

Among the reasons why men fail to access health care are: work not allowing them to use health centres that open only during the day; a belief that the service is primarily for women and children and worries that they have to admit they have a problem and it will be dismissed by health professionals as ‘nothing’

So, they ignore the warning signs that come as the pounds pile on, namely an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and fat related cancers as well as other chronic problems.

In 2001, The Scoping Study on Men’s Health commissioned by the Department of Health revealed four main concerns. Men’s limited access to the health services (health promotion too often fails to address men specifically); a lack of awareness of their health needs; a lack of social networks and a ‘seeming inability to express emotion’.

Men may also not seek help because they are concerned about the possible consequences on their capacity to earn a living and care for their family. In addition, ‘real’ men might opt for an occasional bout of hypochondria, but they don’t give in easily to genuine symptoms.

The Bradford and Airedale Health of Men (HOM) initiative took health projects to the men including to the barber’s shop and the workplace. A project worker, for instance, went to Bradford Metropolitan Council Refuse Department and offered staff a health MOT and support with weight loss over several weeks. The men said they liked the service because it was offered in their own ‘comfort zone’. Crucially, they were also paid overtime if they attended the MOT on a day off.

‘Too often when men attend health centres, they are infantilised by well meaning health professionals,’ says Professor Alan White, Britain’s first professor of men’s health, at LeedsMet University. ‘They wag their fingers and say,’ You’ve been a naughty boy’.

The HOM study, funded by a lottery grant, is now no more. While there are many individual health professionals who are enthusiastic about trying pioneering approaches, it’s not easy to find multi-disciplinary teams such as the one created by HOM and sustained for a period of time. The HIA is on the hunt for projects or good ideas for future pilots – any suggestions appreciated.

A new pressure to do more may come as a result of the Equality Act 2006, in force since April 2007. Among other measures, it places a statutory duty on all public authorities to, “promote equality of opportunity between men and women”.

In practise, this means public authorities have a positive obligation to take action – or potentially risk being taken to court. Over 300 Primary Care Trusts, by last April, should have published a Gender Equality Scheme (GES) that sets out objectives until 2010. In spite of that, while PCTs are aware of the health problems that many men face particularly with regard to long term illnesses such as heart disease, dementia, diabetes and obesity, a large number appear unresponsive to the idea that tackling men’s health and encouraging behaviour change may require a very different, more innovative, ‘man friendly’ agenda .

At present, systems and relationships with professionals in the NHS often appeal more to women. That bias isn’t conscious - but it’s still one that harms .