Doctors commend Forum's publications

13/09/16 . News

Three of the Men's Health Forum's titles were 'Commended' or 'Highly Commended' in the BMA Patient Information Awards 2016.

The Man Manual and Your Body, Your Health, which looks at health for trans men, were both 'Highly Commended' and Man To Man, which looks at health for gay men, was 'Commended' in the awards which are made by doctors.

Of the Man Manual, the judges said: 'the booklet itself is excellent and there some entertaining cartoons emphasising some points in the text.'

Of Your Body, Your Health, the judges said: 'I've been doing this judging for a few years. I think this is one of the best resources I've seen. I hadn't read about the topic before but found I wanted to as the booklet is so good. This booklet is great. I'll certainly recommend it to anyone I think would benefit from it.'

Jim Pollard, who edited all three publications, said: 'It's quite special to be nominated for three publications in the same year: a real tribute to the many people involved, especially all the men who worked with us. It's excellent that the BMA see the broader picture and recognise the importance of materials that aid the prevention of illness as well as those related to the treatment of it.'

The BMA Patient Information Awards aim to support and encourage patient-centred care in meeting the needs of patients through the production and dissemination of accessible, well-designed and clinically-balanced information.

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.

Registered with the Fundraising Regulator