Peter Baker

This is well worth a look: a new eBook, Equality for Men, by Glen Poole, Director of the consultancy Helping Men and organiser of the equality4men social media campaign. It is an accessible and well-argued attempt to map out a new approach to gender equality that is supported by a mass of data that shows just how bad things are for men and boys in many areas of their lives, including health, fatherhood, education, work and crime. Many of those who argue for men’s rights quickly lapse into anti-feminism and misogyny, blaming women for all men’s problems. I was delighted to see that Glen does not share this unsavoury perspective and declares his support for tackling discrimination against women. But I nevertheless remain unconvinced by some of his core arguments. Read the rest of this entry »

Men are not a success story for the UK’s health services. Their unnecessarily poor health and early death is in fact good news only for the funeral business.

Is this because the Y chromosome and a problematic prostate condemn men to physical frailty or because they are simply foolish, feckless and increasingly fat? Much better explanations are that men have been brought up to believe they have to be strong, silent and stoical and that health services have not done enough to change men’s risk-taking behaviours or help them to access services. Read the rest of this entry »

Movember is almost upon us once again. Within a few years it’s become one of the biggest events in the UK health calendar and it succeeds in raising millions from an army of participants in an increasing number of countries. By any standards, it’s a huge achievement based on a simple and brilliant idea (grow a moustache for charity) that has clearly caught many men’s imagination. So why does it still leave me feeling rather uneasy? Is Movember actually as valuable as it clearly believes itself to be? Read the rest of this entry »

Male life expectancy remains dismal in many parts of England and Wales. In 2009-11, a baby boy born in Blackpool could expect to live for just under 74 years, according to National Statistics’ data published last week. But a boy born in the rather more affluent area of East Dorset can expect to live over nine years more while a girl born in East Dorset can look forward to another 13 years of life. Men’s health is still far worse than it could and should be. Read the rest of this entry »

A great deal has been said about men’s poor use of GP services. But men’s use of dental services has been virtually ignored, even though they are at greater risk of gum disease and mouth cancers than women (women, however, are more at risk of tooth decay). Men also take poorer care of their own oral health – they are much less likely than women to brush their teeth regularly or to floss. With the oral health campaign National Smile Month kicking off next week (on 20 May), it’s worth asking what can be done about this. Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) runs its first-ever men’s health training course for GPs and other practice staff. Fittingly, the event is being held at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and about 80 are expected to attend. They will hear a range of speakers on a wide range of topics, including male mental health, obesity and sexual health, as well as male-specific problems such as testosterone deficiency and erectile dysfunction, and discuss how men’s use of GP services can be improved. I will be presenting on ‘The Key Issues in Men’s Health’ and will be recommending a 10-point action plan for GPs (outlined in a previous blog.) Read the rest of this entry »

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has recently launched Living Well for Longer, a ‘call to action’ to cut avoidable premature deaths in England. But Mr Hunt signally failed to mention a key high-risk group – men. Men are much more likely than women to die young (42% of all male deaths are under 75 compared to 26% of female) and to die from avoidable causes (65% of all avoidable deaths are male). This is a significant and tragic omission. Read the rest of this entry »

The NHS Confederation has published an excellent new briefing, Health and Sport – a winning team, which outlines how the NHS can work in partnership with local sporting bodies to harness the expertise, profile and attraction of sport clubs to reach greater numbers of people and promote sport as a way to improve people’s health. The briefing includes numerous references to men’s health and reinforces other studies that have also made a strong case for health services working more with sport to engage men in health.

In recent years, the idea of taking services to ‘where men are’ (workplaces, pubs, betting shops, faith settings, sports stadia) has become a regular feature of men’s health work. A great deal of innovative and effective work has now taken place in these settings and the potential for more is clearly significant. But we must not also neglect the importance of making traditional primary care services as accessible for men as possible. After all, for the foreseeable future, these will remain the most important entry points for men into the health system. Read the rest of this entry »

Prostate Cancer UK has been hugely successful in generating high-profile support and new sources of funding. The charity’s latest coup, TV ads featuring the top comedian Bill Bailey, is a major achievement. But while it’s fantastic that an important men’s health issue is being addressed in this way, there is at the same time a very real danger that the growing focus on prostate cancer will mean that other, even more significant men’s health issues, including other cancers, will remain overlooked. Read the rest of this entry »