How To Ensure Men Get Health & Wellbeing Support
29 June 2018
Last week was Men’s Health Week, a week dedicated to raising awareness around health issues that affect men. While health awareness campaigns are great for putting important issues in the front of everyone’s minds, it’s also important to keep this work going throughout the year. In this article we explore how to help your male colleagues and staff members access health and wellbeing support when they need it.
It is widely accepted that men and women display very different attitudes to health and illness. Health is often perceived to be a female concern, whereas men are supposed to ‘tough it out’ and not publically show any concerns about their health.
Men often downplay any symptoms they have and will wait longer to get medical help or advice than women. In one study it was found that women in the 20-40 age group visited their GP twice as often as men in this age group. As a result there is a link between men’s low attendance rates at the GP, and their higher attendance rates at A&E.
Studies have also shown that men have lower levels of ‘health literacy’ than women. They are less aware of the symptoms that suggest they may have a health issue and how to manage and treat health conditions. They also take bigger risks with prescription drugs. For example, they are less likely to read the patient information leaflet, and more likely to purchase prescription-only drugs without a prescription. A study of 935 men aged 35+ years in major UK cities, found that 1 in 10 purchased a prescription-only medication without a prescription, 50% bought on the Internet.
Of course, not all men conform to this stereotype and some women are equally as ambivalent about their health. However, the studies and statistics do point to lower levels of health awareness in the male population, and this can have an impact in the workplace with issues around productivity, absenteeism and staff turnover.
Improving men’s health awareness in the workplace
Employers can do a lot to raise awareness about health issues, point their staff to the support they need, and help prevent problems developing in the first place. As most employees spend a significant amount of time at work, the workplace is a great place to raise awareness and promote positive messages about health and wellbeing.
If you run health and wellbeing programmes for your organisation you will already being doing a lot towards improving employees’ health. But are you reaching men as well as women?
Most organisations create inclusive health and wellbeing campaigns aimed at everyone. But as health is often socially constructed as a feminine concern, you may find that men are not engaging with your inclusive campaigns as much as women are. Instead, if you target men specifically you could find that you get better take up of your schemes and incentives by male staff. That could involve giving men specific facts about the health problems that affect them - for example, men are 26% more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than women – and having support and programmes in place that are designed for them.
Another consideration should be the imagery and role models you use when promoting health and wellbeing programmes. Often incentives like Cycle to Work schemes, gym memberships etc. use photos of male models exercising. However, not everyone identifies with a model with a six-pack or even aspires to be like that! Instead it’s important to choose photos and role models that are inclusive, featuring men that your staff can identify with and be inspired by.
Employees are much more likely to engage with your health and wellbeing programmes if they feel that they are relevant to them. While you may offer the same programmes for all genders, you’ll get better take up when they’re personalised and tailored for different groups of employees. By simply changing your messaging to target men directly, you can have a positive impact on the health of your male staff.
To explore a range of health and wellbeing schemes and support that your organisation could providing for your staff, click here.