One man in five dies before the age of 65.
TOGETHER we can change that.

Key Messages

Five key messages:
1. The majority of local authorities are not addressing men’s health. Only 27 out of 147 (18%) had a majority of the measures in their JSNA both local and gendered that is broken down to show figures for men and for women in their area.

2. Worryingly, areas with poor male life expectancy are not necessarily prioritising men’s health, despite the numbers of men in their area who dying young.

3. Local authorities are failing to recognise the importance of men’s mental health. Mental illness and mental health diagnosis rates were included by gender on just a handful of JSNAs yet 78% of people who take their own lives are male. 

4. Key lifestyle areas are regularly being overlooked. Only alcohol is included as a gendered measure in the majority of the JSNAs. Too often diet, smoking and sexual health are neglected.

5. Figures on disease prevalence and related hospital admissions which affect men considerably more, such as cancer and coronary heart disease are not gendered leaving key gaps in the understanding of survival and the burden of disease.

FEWER THAN ONE IN FIVE LOCAL AUTHORITIES HAS MOST OF ITS JSNA MEASURES GENDERED

The JSNA forms an integral part of the Health and Wellbeing Board’s health policy and even highlights the areas where funding should be allocated yet just 18% of local authorities managed to have a majority of their measures gendered in their JSNAs.

It is imperative that local authorities properly take into account the needs of all the local population.

Men and women have different health needs. It is essential that information is available on men and women in a local area. Some men may be affected more by a particular cancer, for example, than women. The JSNA should identify this in order to create a local health policy and strategy that will address this issue.

The research conducted has illustrated the huge gaps in JSNAs. Local authorities do not respond to a low male life expectancy. Lifestyle, disease and mental health - areas in which men and women have very different experiences - are often ignored.

This report recognises the difficulty in creating a suitable JSNA and therefore provides guidance in implementing change to prevent premature male mortality. Hopefully, NHS England and PHE will follow suit in providing better information and a more stringent model JSNA to allow local authorities to create an ideal JSNA which effectively meets the needs of the local population.

Ultimately, we hope that this report will highlight the problems of the current approach to JSNAs from both local and central government. We have demonstrated the key areas which local authorities have failed to address as part of their JSNA. Yet, we have also highlighted the areas of good practice proving that a comprehenisve fully-gendered JSNA is achievable.

The current situation is unacceptable. This report provides clear evidence that JSNAs must be changed to improve the health of both men and women.

The Men’s Health Forum need your support

It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to.

It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for.

We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing.

Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.

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Contact
Address
  • The Men's Health Forum
  • 82 Tanner Street
  • London, SE1 3GN

Charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1087375). Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 4142349).