Australia recently celebrated Men’s Health Week and wanted to take the opportunity to also give it the attention it deserves here on the Source Health Blog.
The unfortunate reality is that there is still a stigma around men being ‘weak’ if they care about their physical and mental health and reach out to professionals to stay healthy. The awareness that Men’s Health Week brings is used as an important opportunity to highlight men’s health, show men what it means to be healthy and educate the public about what can be done to improve the state of men’s health.
Research shows that women are way more likely to visit the doctor for regular examinations and preventive services than men. Men are less frequent visitors to general practitioners, and the perception is that they don’t prioritise their health or that health services are not well-prepared to interact with men effectively. This is a factor in why the health status of males in most countries, including Australia, is generally poorer than that of females.
So why not focus on this all year round? Well, with so many different health conditions out there, having specific awareness weeks – such as Men’s Health Week – allows us to have a set reminder to refocus on this important topic. Observing Men’s Health Week is meant to allow the helping community to provide extra information and resources on health services to men who wouldn’t otherwise receive such care whilst creating awareness amongst the general community so they can support the men in their lives to seek help.
Over the past few years, Australians have started to slowly break the stigma of men maintaining their health not being ‘manly’, but we still have a long way to go. However, the fact is that more males have accidents, more males take their own lives and more males suffer from lifestyle-related health conditions than females at the same age. Men, on average, die almost five years earlier than women, suffer hearing loss at two times the rate of women and as testosterone is linked to elevations of bad cholesterol and declines in good cholesterol, men have a higher rate of having strokes and heart attacks.
In 2002, the second World Congress of Men’s Health set out The Vienna Declaration to establish:
- Recognizing men’s health is a critical issue and that there are health issues which only affect men.
- Promoting awareness of men’s approach to health.
- Changing the way health care is provided to be more sensitive towards men’s needs.
- Creating school and community programs which target boys and young men.
- Connecting health and social policies to better pursue men’s health goals.
It’s important that we ALL take care of ourselves with healthy eating, moving our bodies daily and getting regular check-ups and seeking mental health support when needed. Today, however, we encourage you to reach out to the males in your life and remind them it is ok to ask for help, that they matter and that we 100% support them in seeking the help that they need.
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