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The first-ever National Men's Health Week in England and Wales will take place from 10-16th June 2002. It is a major opportunity for the widest possible range of organizations and individuals to work together to raise awareness of men's health issues and to develop practical initiatives to improve the still poor state of male health. National Men's Health Week is led by The Men's Health Forum, the leading advocate of men's health in England and Wales, with the support and collaboration of partners who share its aim of promoting the health of men.
This leaflet is part of a resource pack put together by the Men's Health Forum to assist you in developing work for National Men's Health Week. The pack includes information on organising men's health events, other available resources, working with the media and tips on evaluating your initiatives.
This Resource Pack is only one part of the support that is being provided for those who are involved in National Men's Health Week. You can find more information on men's health and more resources that you can use to support your work at the Men's Health Forum website: www.menshealthforum.org.uk .
Why A National Men's Health Week?
Establishing a National Men's Health Week has been a long-standing goal of the Men's Health Form . Such an event is one of the best ways of raising awareness about the still poor state of men's health. It remains an area neglected by health policymakers, health services and, of course, by many individual men. We hope that the launch of National Men's Health Week will stimulate a new level of interest in the area and encourage the development of more and better services. We also hope that it will encourage increasing numbers of men to take better care of their own health.
National Men's Health Week will become a annual event and we expect that as the years go by more and more organisations and individuals will become involved and build National Men's Health Week into an awareness event of major importance.
Your involvement in National Men's Health Week is crucial. In fact, without it there would be no Week of any significance, just fine words from the Men's Health Forum. To make a difference, men's health work must be local as well as national and aimed at the widest possible range of men. With your help, we can begin to make a difference and make 'men's health' no longer seem like a contradiction in terms. We hope that this resource pack will help make your project a success.
Working In Partnership
National Men's Health Week has from its inception been a collaborative event, one where partnership is valued and encouraged. The Men's Health Forum has no monopoly on men's health issues and would never claim that it has. In this resource pack you will find information on other organisations that work with men or work on issues that are important to the health of men. Many of these organisations are members of the Men's Health Forum or are collaborative partners in other projects that are undertaken to research or campaign on men's health issues. Other organisations may not have been involved in the past in men's health and are becoming involved for the first time, under the banner of National Men's Health Week. To find out more about the organisations participating in National Men's Health Week, visit the National Men's Health Week section of the Men's Health Forum website at www.menshealthforum.org.uk .
Why Men's Health Is Important
The health of the male population is in no way more or less important than the health of the female population but it is different. Men and women have different health needs, are affected differently by various diseases and illnesses and access services in different patterns and for different reasons. It is for these reasons that men's health matters.
For many health professionals, it has been a struggle to reach men through the various projects and interventions that have been planned over the last few years. Often difficulties have occurred because there has been no recognition that working with men is not the same as working with the general population or women. In planning work for National Men's Health Week, it is important to consider who it is you are aiming to work with and how you can work with them in a way that will make your project a success. Another leaflet in this resource pack suggests how this can be achieved.
Men's health and inequalities
It is becoming increasingly clear that men suffer from a range of health problems and inequalities, some of which are set out in the table. But men also face further inequalities because of barriers to accessing health services, health information not addressing their specific needs, experiences and concerns and the failure of health professionals to consider masculinity and gender in their approach to the design and delivery of services.
National Men's Health Week provides us all with the opportunity to consider what can be achieved in reducing some of these inequalities and what needs to be put in place in the longer term in order to tackle health inequalities in a sustained way that values the contribution that men themselves can make to reducing their ill health and reduces the health inequalities that affect all men.
What's wrong with men's health?
- The average male life expectancy at birth is currently under 75 years.
- Men who are defined as partly skilled or unskilled have a life expectancy of less than 70 years.
- The average man can expect to be seriously or chronically ill for 15 years of his life.
- Nearly 22,000 men in the UK are newly diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and about 9,500 die; the number of new cases diagnosed is expected to treble over the next 20 year.
- The incidence of testicular cancer has doubled in the past 20 years.
- Over 4,200 men killed themselves in England and Wales in 1999; the rate among men aged 15-24 increased by 55 per cent in the period 1981-1997.
- Depression is a widespread but under-recognised problem in men. At least one in five people men are believed to suffer clinical depression at some point in their lives.
- Sexual problems are common amongst men: almost one-fifth of men in their 50s experience problems maintaining or achieving an erection.
- 45 per cent of men are overweight and another 17 per cent are obese.
- 28 per cent of men smoke. The average male smoker smokes 111 cigarettes a week.
- 27 per cent of men drink more than the recommended limits. 36 per cent of men aged 16-24 drink excessively.
- Men are reluctant to visit their GP, especially for a preventive health check — on average, a man aged 16-24 has a health check once every seven years while a man aged 25-39 has a check once every five years.
Different Groups Of Men
National Men's Health Week also provides us all with the opportunity to consider the different needs of different groups of men. It would be wrong to simply aim to tackle men's health as if all men belonged to one homogenous group.
Men can be grouped into age groups — boys, young men, middle aged and older men -and each of these groups has a distinct set of needs in terms of both information and service provision.
Men from different ethnic groups will also have different health needs and will possibly require that information is made available in different languages.
Gay men and bisexual men and heterosexual men also each have a different set of health needs. It also should not be assumed that the needs of gay and bisexual men stop at sexual health needs. The impact of discrimination means also means that these men also have specific needs in relation to mental health and wellbeing, for example.
Tackling the health needs of different groups of men in the longer term will require a full needs assessment of the various groups of men in your area.
Keep in touch
We need your help to make National Men's Health Forum a success:
Consider what you can do in National Men's Health Week. Even if you have very little time or resources, it is easy to organise at least a display of leaflets and information in a place where men will see it.
Tell the Men's Health Forum what you are planning. We may be able to help with practical ideas and we will certainly try to publicise your initiative.
Send us press cuttings or any other materials from your initiative.
Tell us what you think of what we have done. This is the first-ever National Men's Health Week run by the Men's Health Forum. We need your feedback to make next year's Week even better.
Join the Men's Health Forum. We need your continued support to develop our work and membership will give you access to a wide range of information and support.
Setting Up A National Men's Health Week Project
This leaflet aims to set out a process that you can use to help you decide what kind of project you could do for National Men's Health Week. It takes you through the stages of planning a small project and asks you to consider several key areas.
When thinking about setting up a project for National Men's Health Week the two basic issues that need to be considered are: what do you want to achieve and who are you trying to reach?
What you want to achieve?
For your National Men's Health Week project you must first think about what it is that you want to have achieved by the end of your project. Do you want to start a new area of work or do you want to build on some existing work? What are the identified health needs in your area and how can you work with men on these? Do you want to organise something that will be a one-off or do you want to start something that will continue after National Men's Health Week?
Having thought through what it is that you want to achieve set out 2 or 3 goals for your project to have achieved. What you can achieve and the areas that you can be involved in will be limited by the type of organisation that you work for and the type of job that you do — so don't think that you can do everything for men's health when that is unrealistic.
Who are you trying to reach?
Thinking about the specific group of men that you are trying to reach will help you to set up an appropriate project that meets the needs of this particular group. Are you trying to reach as many men as possible, from different age groups, communities, ethnic groups and education levels? If so, a very generic approach will be needed. Or are you trying to focus on one group of men - possibly from a particular area in your town or a group of men who are considered particularly at risk from a particular condition? In this case a much more targeted approach will be required.
Set out 2 or 3 things that help keep you focused on the particular groups that you want to work with by the end of your project.
When and where your project will be
A consideration of what it is that you want to achieve and who it is that you want to work with should have helped to define the where and when of the events and projects that you set up.
If you want to work with young men then it is likely that you will have to work with schools and youth groups, but you should also consider where you can reach young men who are excluded from these organisations.
The when will also be defined by the location, so working with young men in a school setting means that you will have to do so during the day, whilst working with youth groups is likely to mean evening or weekend work. Don't schedule your event for these times if staff is not available (See below on resources).
Similar considerations will have to be given to any other group of men that you are aiming to work with. Consider where and when you are likely to get a group of the men that you want to work with. It is likely that you will have to go to them as they are unlikely to come to you — we know that most men do not use health services on a regular basis, so they cannot be relied upon to walk past a display in a health centre for example.
Also consider the appropriateness of what you are planning. There is little point in organising a display of physical activity in a sports centre as the men who go there are already interested and the display will do little to inform or encourage them.
Meeting the needs of your target group
The next area that you should consider is the likelihood of your project succeeding. Having got down on paper what you want to achieve, who you want to reach and when and where you will operate your project, you will have created an overview of your project. Does this look like something that is both achievable and acceptable to your target group? Does your project offer anything that is of interest to the group? (Just because you think that it is interesting and worthy does not mean that others will). The best way to find out whether what you are planning is acceptable enough is to ask people. If possible get together a small group from the groups of men that you want to work with and ask them what they think of what you are planning. Be open to criticism and ask them what they think would improve on what you already have planned. It may also be worth asking the professionals who work with this group what they think as they have the experience in working with the group that you want to reach. Having gathered their views re-consider your approach and make any amendments that are suitable.
Resources for your project
Once you have completed your plan the final step is to consider what has to be put into making it happen. The basic set of resources that are required are:
Venue — if you are using your own venue then make sure that your colleagues and others are aware that it has been booked for your project. If you are using another venue then organise for it to be booked in advance and let those who operate the venue know what it is that you are planning to do, talk through your project with them as they may be able to give you some assistance or let you know of particular restrictions that are in place.
Staff — consider how many people you need to make your project work and make sure that they are all available when you need them. If you are operating over a long time then prepare a rota so that people know when they are expected to work. Make sure that you have the right mix of people — do you need specialist workers such as youth workers or nurses? If so, their time on your project will have to be agreed with their managers.
Partners — if you are working with another organisation or with a number of different organisations then the level and type of resources committed from each will have to be negotiated and agreed upon well in advance.
Referring On — if part of your project is about referring men onto other services then it is important that those services are aware of what your project is about so that they know to expect extra men into their services after your project. It may also be useful if you can get some agreement from those services to count the number of men who attend as a result of your project — it is a solid way of measuring the impact that your project has had.
Promotion — your project should be promoted to the groups of men that you are aiming to reach in order to encourage them to take part. You can promote your event by having posters and flyers about what you aim to achieve in the venue a few weeks before in order to prepare the men for the arrival of the project. It might also be useful to promote the project through the media — for more information on this see the Working with the Media Section in this National Men's Health Week Resource Pack.
Information & Displays — having the information that men need close to hand during your project is likely to be one of your basic aims. The range of information and posters that are aimed specifically at men is quite limited, however making sure that you have enough of what is available is crucial. If you do not have the information that you are asked for then it is essential that you pass on the details about how someone can get hold of the information that they need — so having the contact details of a range of helplines or websites is a useful way of making sure that men can get the information that they need.
Working with the media
Getting good publicity for your health initiative is crucial — it can help to promote men's health and increase the profile and credibility of your organization.
Following these tips will help you generate the publicity you need:
- Plan your project (and your publicity strategy) well in advance.
- If your organization has press/PR staff, liaise with the relevant person — don't go it alone.
- Compile a list of all the local/regional media in which you hope to get your story covered (remember local radio and television too — don't focus just on newspapers). Wherever possible, identify journalists by name (e.g. whoever covers health stories).
- Decide whether you want publicity before and/or after the event. If you want pre-publicity, perhaps as a way of advertising an event to attract people to attend, many local papers will provide this in the form of short news items. You may also want to consider direct advertising in a local paper.
- Send out your press release about two weeks before the event. Remember — it must include the '5 Ws' — Where, Who, What, Why and When. (See below for an example of a model press release.)
- Make sure the release includes a contact name for journalists. Include a phone number and, if possible, a mobile number and email address.
- Decide on your embargo, i.e. the date and time before which you don't want your story to appear in the media. If you want your story to be covered on the day of your event, you may well decide to embargo it '00.01' for that day. (In other words, the story can't be covered before one minute past midnight on that day.)
- Mention National Men's Health Week in your release. You may well get more coverage if journalists know that your event is part of a bigger, national story.
- The press release should be sent out by post - and email and fax too if possible. Journalists get hundreds of press releases every week and can easily overlook potentially good stories. The more likely they are to see the release the better your chance of getting coverage.
- A week or so before the event, get on the phone to all the journalists on your list, starting with the most important. Although they are invariably busy, journalists expect people with good stories to phone them so don't feel shy about doing this. Be upbeat too — even if you're worried that no one will turn up to your event, exude confidence. If you don't think you have a good story, neither will a journalist.
- If you are inviting journalists to an event, think about how you will manage them in advance. Some men considering a health check, for example, may well be put off if they turn up and see 15 journalists and five TV cameras. You could consider inviting the media to attend your event at one specific time, perhaps before your event is open to the public, and arranging for men who are willing to talk to the media to be present. Remember — it's very important for the media to be able to talk to 'case studies' (i.e. 'real people'), not just the experts. You should also prepare written quotes from your case studies in the press release or in additional information made available on the day of the event.
- Get the support of local celebrities or dignitaries, if possible. The media are more likely to cover a story if it includes an interview with David Beckham or Robbie Williams. Your local MP is likely to attend, especially if given enough notice. If you can't get a VIP to turn up, try and get a written statement of support which you can quote in your press release.
- Take photographs of the event. These may be useful for some media but also for your own records (they will look impressive in your annual report).
- Make sure someone is available to deal with media enquiries, especially on the day of your event. If you're all seeing patients all day, for example, you might well miss some media opportunities.
- After the event, contact key journalists by phone, email or fax with some key facts demonstrating the success of your event — e.g. 'we saw 30 men, 10 of whom had high blood pressure and didn't know it'.
- Monitor the media to keep a record of the coverage you achieved. This is especially important for funders who like to see this sort of evidence of a return on their investment. Please send copies of your cuttings to the Men's Health Forum too — this will enable us to assess the overall impact of the Week.
Model press release
PRESS RELEASE
Media contact: xxxxx xxxxx, tel: xxxx xxxx; mobile: xxxxx xxxxx; email: xxxxx@xxxxxx.
Embargo: 00.01, Monday 10th June 2002.
Mr Local Celebrity joins Newtown Health Centre to launch new men's health checks in shopping centre
Newtown Health Centre launches a major new health initiative for men today (10th June) as part of the first-ever National Men's Health Week. Doctors and nurses from the Centre have set up a men's MOT health check in the Enterprise shopping centre, offering men free blood pressure, cholesterol and weight checks as well as a chance to chat about any health worries.
The Centre is offering this service to encourage men in Newtown to take better care of their health and to make more use of health services. The Centre believes that more must be done to improve men's health since too many men die prematurely, drink too much alcohol and are overweight. Men are often also reluctant to visit their doctor until health problems have become serious and harder to treat.
The Centre's first visitor was Mr Local Celebrity. He said: 'We all know men don't look after their health as well as they could and I have to admit I'm no exception. I've found it very useful to get myself checked out and I'd advise other Newtown men to do the same, especially if it's been a long time since they last saw the doctor. You never know — a quick check-up could result in a longer life.'
Mr X, 67, a retired Newtown storeman, said after his MOT at the Enterprise shopping centre: 'My wife has been nagging me to go to the doctor for years but I've never bothered. But I'm pleased I've had an MOT today because the nurse found my blood pressure's a bit on the high side. I'll need some further tests, but finding out there's a problem now could stop a lot worse happening to me in a few years' time.'
Newtown Health Centre's Director, Dr. Z said: 'Because men are often reluctant to visit a doctor we've decided to take this new service to them. It's in the centre of town, it's free, it's quick and it's completely confidential. We hope men will use it to find out just how good their health really is or to ask about any problems they might have.'
Newtown Health Centre's initiative is one of hundreds taking place throughout the country during the first-ever National Men's Health Week. The Week has been launched by the Men's Health Forum, a charity that promotes men's health, and is backed by the Health Development Agency and a wide range of other health organizations and charities.
Notes to editors
1. The MOT checks at the Enterprise shopping centre will be launched at a special press event at the Enterprise at 10am on Monday 10th June. Mr Local Celebrity will be present as well as Mr X and other men who are willing to be interviewed about why they have decided to have a health check.
2. The MOT health checks are available to the public at the Enterprise shopping centre from 11am-6pm on 10th June, from 11am to 8pm on 13th June and from 9am — 6pm on 15th June. Men can just turn up — no appointments are necessary — and the service is completely free and confidential.
3. The Newtown Health Centre is [describe the service].
4. The Men's Health Forum, the organisation leading National Men's Health Week, can be contacted on 020 7388 4449.
5. National Men's Health Week runs from 10th-16th June. It aims to raise the profile of men's health, encourage men's health initiatives and increase men's awareness of their own health.
5. Men wanting health information can visit the Men's Health Forum's website, www.malehealth.co.uk.
Evaluating Your Project
Gathering information and evidence on what you achieved with your National Men's Health Week projects — and how you achieved it - is an important aspect of project planning. Gathering evidence on what you have achieved and how you achieved it can help you plan future events that are even better.
Writing a report on what you achieved - and how what actually happened measures up to what you hoped would happen - gives you the chance to reflect on your event and consider any changes that you would make next time. It also gives other people who read the report some useful ideas about what they could do. Further, it is important that those organisations funding events for National Men's Health Week have a written report that tells them how their money was spent.
Gathering these reports together regionally or nationally also helps create a picture of how National Men's Health Week went across the country. So if you do an evaluation, or write a report, then please send us a copy— it will help us attract sponsorship for National Men's Health Week in 2003.
The type of evaluation that you will need to consider will vary depending on what it is you hope to achieve with your project. For the majority of events that will be held during National Men's Health Week a simple form of evaluation is all that will be required.
You might want to consider a mixture of quantitative and qualitative aspects to your evaluation in order to gather both statistics about how much was achieved as well as gathering information on how people perceived the event. You could use some of the following methods to include in any evaluation report that you compile:
Quantitative:
- Counting the number of people who attend your event.
- Counting the number of men who receive information that you have distributed and what type of information it is. Make a league table of the most sought after information — that gives others an idea of what it is that men are interested in knowing about.
- Counting the number of health checks that are performed on men who attend your event.
- Counting the number of people who follow up a suggestion that they visit a health professional as a result of attending your event — e.g. the number of men who visit the local GUM service as a result of attending your event. It might also be useful to count the numbers of men who receive a particular test or treatment as a result of their attendance.
Although these types of measurements can not prove that any change occurred because of your National Men's Health Week project it is still useful to gather such information as it together with the qualitative information that you gather you will be able to build an overall impression of what the results of your project are.
Qualitative:
Ask people who attend your event to write down what they thought of it. Ask them specific questions, such as:
- What have you found out today that is of help to you?
- What more do you want to know?
- Would you come to an event for men again?
- What do you think are the most important health issues for men?
You can achieve this simple type of quantitative measuring by using a survey form for people to complete. Devise the questions carefully so that the answers have meaning and that the compiled results can be used by you.
Both quantitative and qualitative information can be gathered in different ways but it is important to remember that whatever method you choose to get the best results you should always allow people to respond in ways that are quick, easy and confidential. So don't stand and watch them if you have given them a survey form to complete or give them the opportunity to make their comments in a way that distances them from you — a suggestions box is always a good way of achieving this.It is important to remember that your evaluation and the report that you write should consider your original aims and objectives. You should be asking questions that find out whether you are achieving what you set out to achieve as well as gathering information from men about what they would like to see happen in the future. It is also important to make sure that the level of evaluation you use is appropriate to the size and type of project that you are having — some may suffer from over evaluation and some from under evaluation — try to strike a reasonable balance.
Men's Health Forum Resource Directory
The resources outlined below are available to support men's health initiatives and are likely to be useful during National Men's Health Week.
Health Promotion England — NHS
40 Eastbourne Terrace, London W2 3QR
Tel: 020 7298 5640
Publishes a wide range of leaflets on health-related issues including:
Healthy living for Men
Think about Drink
Sexual Health for Men
Website has contact details for local health authorities and resources, for example:
Men — Are you in Credit with your Health? (Buckinghamshire)
Bob's bits (Liverpool)
Website also has links to:
Health Education Board for Scotland
The Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland
Health Promotion Wales
Durex Information Service
LRC Products, PO Box 177, Oldham OL1 3LR
A range of sexual health leaflets including:
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Safer Sex — Think Condoms when you do
Sexual Advice — Where to go
Testicular Cancer
Merck Sharp and Dohme
Hertford Road, Hoddesdon, Herts EN11 9BU
e-mail: betterprostatehealth@merck.com
Pharmaceutical company publications as booklets or PDF files:
Men in Focus
Better Prostate Health
CancerBACUP
3 Bath Place, Rivington Street, London EC2A 3DR
Tel: 020 7696 9003
Booklets and an information line for cancer patients and others affected, including:
Understanding Testicular Cancer
Cancer Support Service Tel: 020 7613 2121
MIMS Companion — a bi-annual supplement to MIMS
MIMS, PO Box 272, Southall UB1 2WF
Tel: 020 8606 7500
Next edition due May/June 2002. Sent free to GPs and practice nurses. Contains useful lists of educational resources available from companies and contact details for support groups.
British Heart Foundation
14 Fitzhardinge Street, London, W1H 6DH
Tel: 020 7935 0185
Comprehensive catalogue of information materials including:
So you want to lose weight — Men
Exercise for life
"Then he stopped smokingâ€
Know your heart poster
Men's Health Matters
FREEPOST WC5497, PO Box 490, Richmond TW9 3BR
Tel: 020 8332 760
Supported by an educational grant from Glaxo Wellcome and Yamanouchi Pharma. Two simple self-assessment questionnaires for men over 50:
General Health Check
Urinary Symptoms Health Check
Orchid Cancer Appeal
St Bartholemews Hospital, London, EC1A 7BE
Tel 020 7601 7808 Fax 020 7601 7577
email info@orchid-cancer.org.uk www.orchid-cancer.org.uk
Produces leaflets on male cancers and a video on testicular cancer for use in schools.
Prostate Cancer Charity
3 Angel Walk, Hammersmith, London W6 9HX
020 8222 7622
Produces leaflet, booklets and posters on prostate
The Impotence Association
PO Box 10296 London SW17 9WH
020 8767 7791
Has a range of materials relating to impotence
Male Health Online
www.malehealth.co.uk is the only comprehensive, dedicated, independent men's health website in the UK and is to be re-designed to coincide with National Men's Health Week.
Tavistock House
Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9HR
Office : 020 7388 4449
Fax: 020 7388 4477
Email: office@menshealthforum.org.uk
Websites: www.menshealthforum.org.uk & www.malehealth.co.uk
National Men's Health Week Steering Group:
Richard O'Neill — Director of National Men's Health Week
Ian Banks — President, Men's Health Forum
Jane Deville-Almond
Meryl Johnson
Colin Osborne
Peter Baker
Allan Johnstone
Men's Health Week 2012
MHF shop
Mini-manuals