Concerns About Men's Health

Men's Wellbeing Matters was established because of concerns about the overall state of men's health in Australia and the desire of members of the Committee to contribute to addressing the problem in sustainable ways.

There is no shortage of information indicating that the area of men's wellbeing requires serious attention at the level of the individual, the community and government.  The following contains a mixture of information supporting this view, collated from a range of Australian sources including government, community and men's health and wellbeing groups.

The Florey Study

Preliminary results of the 2007 Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS) presents a concerning picture of men's health.  Among the study participants aged 35 - 80 years:

• 47% were overweight and a further 31.5% obese

• 61% did not get sufficient exercise - 44% were sedentary

• Over one third have been diagnosed with high cholesterol

• 9.5% have been diagnosed with diabetes

• 30.2% have been diagnosed with high blood pressure

• 57.2% reported some degree of erectile dysfunction

• 12.5% have been diagnosed with depression

• 9.3% have been diagnosed with anxiety

• 11% have been diagnosed with insomnia

Comparisons between men's and women's health

Information from government authorities and men's health groups reveals some interesting comparisons between men's health and women's health. The figures vary depending on the source, but essentially they are in agreement.  For example:

• The average life span for an Australian male is 76 years and for women 81.

• Heart disease kills almost as twice as many men as women.

• Men are ill more frequently than women.

• Men use health services 40% less than women and see their GP only rarely.

• Depression is very high with males and often goes undiagnosed.

• Men use counselling services 50% less than women.

• About 62% of men are overweight, compared with 45% of women.

• Despite a concerted anti-smoking campaign, 26% of men still smoke compared to 19% of women.

• The rate of work injuries is much higher for men than women.

Services not effective

Despite the availability of health services in the community and improved screening processes for conditions such as heart disease and cancer, either men are not being given advice about their health or they are not taking the advice that they are being given.  Consequently, they are not using health services early enough for treatment to be effective. 

Traditionally men have been reluctant to seek professional assistance with medical and other personal problems, or even to speak about them with friends and relatives.  While one explanation for this is that men have been socialised to be stoic about their health, another view is that services are not male-friendly enough and, therefore, are not accessible and welcoming for men.

The Impact of this Situation

There is a wide range of adverse social and economic consequences for individuals, families and the community of men's health and wellbeing issues not being addressed adequately.

The following highlights a cross section of them:

• Reduced productivity at work

• Loss of employment

• Reliance on inadequate pensions and benefits

• Loss of quality of life

• Stress and anxiety in families

• Child and spouse abuse

• Child behaviour problems

• Relationship and family breakdown

• Premature death or disability

• Reduced physical activity, leading to obesity, heart disease, type II diabetes, stroke, cancer, arthritis, etc.

• Adverse effects to physiology and immune responses through inability to manage stress

• Increase in family health care expenses

• Reduced capacity to deal with life's challenges

• Resorting to alcohol and substances abuse

• Increase in traffic accidents, suicide and criminal violence

• An increase in health and welfare service costs to taxpayers

• Reduced capacity to participate in and benefit from the community

What Others Say Should Be Done

A variety of strategies has been proposed to address men's wellbeing issues in Australia.  A summary of them is as follows:

• Health and welfare services and policy must take into account that men's wellbeing requires specific attention and that knowledge and services should be more 'men friendly' so that they are more accessible to men.

• Groups concerned with the wellbeing of men need to co-operate, collaborate and whenever possible work in partnership with one another to achieve their common goals.

• Boys' and men's beliefs about their health need to be addressed from an early age through both formal education and more broad-based health-promotion campaigns, with greater emphasis on providing services and education through the workplace.

• There is a need for the public, the health and welfare professions and policymakers to accept that men's wellbeing needs are different to those of women.

• Resources for men's wellbeing promotion should be comparable with the resources allocated to other areas of wellbeing promotion.

• Men's wellbeing needs to be a field of practice in its own right to encourage research, debate, education and practice.

Men's Wellbeing Matters can contribute to the development of each of these strategies on the Mornington Peninsula. Also, through leading by example, Men's Wellbeing Matters can encourage other communities and groups to take up the cause of men's health and wellbeing.