Why are men so reluctant to get medical advice?
With Men’s Health Week from the 13–19 June this year, this is a good time to encourage men to take responsibility for their health.
For many men a trip to the doctor’s surgery is rarely self-initiated or taken as a conscious step towards preventative healthcare, and usually only happens when something is very wrong. Research shows that men are significantly less likely than women to visit their GP or dentist, ask the pharmacist for advice and information, or attend contraception clinics, although they are more likely to end up in hospital because they delay in getting a diagnosis.
Cycling legend Lance Armstrong admitted he delayed going to a doctor for months before he was given a diagnosis of testicular cancer which had also spread elsewhere in his body in 1996.
So why do they have such a big problem with going to the doctor? The issue has become a serious cause for concern and the Men's Health Forum (MHF), a group set up to raise awareness of men's health, is calling for GP surgeries to become more ''male-friendly''. MHF research has found that men in Britain go to the doctors 20% less than women, not because they have fewer reasons to go, but because they feel ''put off by doctors''.
The charity has recently released a statement saying:
''The NHS must address men's under-use of GPs as well as their under-use of pharmacies, smoking cessation, weight management services and health trainers and look for ways to develop a gender-sensitive approach to service provison.''
Mike Shallcross, the deputy editor of Men's Health magazine, explains the gender gap by saying that women have a much healthier relationship with their bodies. ''They see it as a question of maintenance, whereas men see it as a question of repair. Men treat their bodies a bit like a car: once it's burnt out they'll fix it, but until then they power on."
A study released by the MHF shows a high level of dissatisfaction among men with the current family doctor service and widespread support for extended surgery hours, more male clinics, more check-ups and screening tests. The present failure of GP surgeries to reach out to men is actively contributing to the poor state of male health in England, warns the Forum. Around 400 men took part in the study as part of the Men’s Health Forum response to the Government’s ‘Your health, your care, your say’ consultation exercise on the future of non-hospital services.
A further consultation exercise with health professionals echoed these findings, with over half the respondents saying that health services may make men feel unwelcome. They said health services were often provided in "feminised" premises, in terms of décor and display material, and that there was a gender bias in the provision of some services.
Proposals from the men surveyed included:
- The views of male patients clearly indicated that more men would visit their GP if the surgery was open in the evening or on Saturday. Asked if they could change one thing to make it more likely they would visit their GP, most men replied by suggesting extended surgery hours.
- Male-friendly’ surgeries, with more men’s magazines and men’s health posters in the waiting room, and more male receptionists and male nurse practitioners.
- A number of men said they felt ‘out of place’ when visiting their GP, and several suggested that GPs should hold male only sessions or male health clinics.
- Several men wanted to see an on-line booking system. One proposal was that surgeries should be held in local betting shops, pubs, golf clubs and other men’s venues.
In addition to being put off by their GP surgeries and opening hours, other reasons men are reluctant to seek medical advice include:
They are more likely to:
- try to "tough out" illness
- give priority to work commitments over treatment and rest
- to fear the consequences of illness and disease
- be embarrassed at having to discuss symptoms in general and have examinations
- have a self image that encouraged them to deny illness – illness equals weakness
They are less likely than women to:
- to be prepared to discuss their health
- realise doctors are also there for prevention and can discuss age appropriate screening
- have an established relationship with a doctor, as many women are used to going for regular smear tests and contraception and may well have an established relationship with a doctor they have seen for a number of years
Men also lack awareness that health issues such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and elevated blood sugars may not necessarily show current symptoms, but could cause a stroke and be prevented and managed if caught early.
Things must change
There is a wealth of accessible information for men and women on healthcare but not all of it is designed in a user friendly and accessible format. Also much of it is clinical, for when you already are ill as opposed to advising about prevention.
What YourDoc Medical can do to help?
YourDoc Medical is unique in that it positions itself as a preventative health care company. As such we have addressed many of these issues by offering easy to access and effective health screenings as well as an increasing range of online systems such as:
- Wellness Checkpoint®, a powerful online Health Risk Assessment and Coaching System, which enables individuals to take responsibility for their healthcare.
- A range of easy to use online health tools – to be launched in June 2011. To help raise awareness and some sense of control over key health concerns such as diabetes risk and cardiovascular health.
- In addition, their health portal contains educational and informative health and wellbeing articles from a wide range of health professionals; many are targeted specifically at men.
Your Doc Medical is actively working with and supporting the aims of Men's Health Forum and Men's health week.
Men’s Health Week this year is embracing this theme as it is focusing on how new technologies can be used to improve men's health.
According to the Men’s Health Forum:
“Many men are reluctant users of traditional health services, such as GPs and pharmacies, and do not always respond to mainstream health awareness campaigns. However, most men care about their health and do respond to messages when the information is presented in formats that appeal to them. We know that men are enthusiastic users of wide range of new technologies – online systems, mobile phone applications, social networking, gaming, etc. We want to harness this interest in new technologies to develop health services, information and products that engage men so they take action to improve their health”
There is growing evidence that information and services provided through the internet and other technologies can be used to improve men's health outcomes. 37% of men used the internet for health information in 2009, up from 31% in 2008, according to National Statistics data. This is a promising base on which to build. Men's Health Forum's consumer website (www.malehealth.co.uk) attracts over 1.5m unique visitors a year; for the 2010 World Cup, NHS Choices worked with MHF to develop male-specific tools and content using a football theme; and in partnership with MHF, BT developed a pioneering intranet-based lifestyle change programme for its staff that attracted over 16,000 users, most of whom were men. Many men who have not been physically active have been motivated by participative home video games such as Nintendo Wii.’
Men’s Health Forum are launching a Health Clicks Mini Manual - A 32 page booklet in the Forum’s popular mini-manual format helping men to get online and showing them how to use the internet effectively to find health information once they get there, plus a humour-based health app for mobile devices, designed to get men talking about their health called Blokes Noises!
What can you do?
If you think that your man or a man in your life could benefit from using these services this is an opportunity to get them online or persuade them to get a health check to kick start that road to better health and wellbeing. We at YourDoc are already looking after our men – salads and a better diet, more exercise and letting them know that looking after themselves is macho and what we want.
About the author
Jennifer Samarasinghe is the Managing Director of YourDoc Medical, which is a preventative healthcare company based in Sussex. YourDoc Medical's objective is to make first class illness prevention easy to access and cost effective for individuals and organisations.
“We have long recognised that there are issues around men, as a group, accessing healthcare. It is something that we have worked on by designing specific products and articles to work for men. We are therefore very happy to support Men's Health Forum and Men's health week. We are actively promoting health and wellbeing for men, in our services for the workplace and via the health portal which has been focusing on Men's Health for the last quarter. We are delighted to be part of something that can help shift health inequalities for such a large group in our society”
To find out more information about YourDoc Medical Ltd services please go to:
For health check services: /individual
For corporate services: /corporate_services
Or contact Jennifer Samarasinghe:
Email: jennie@yourdocmedical.co.uk
Tel: 01444 220031
Mob: 07713403359
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