Beer really does make men talk about health

Being a healthy living chap I found myself at the Great British Beer Festival this week. It's a huge event currently at Earl's Court in London.

If you read about the MHF's work you will see that one issue for us is how to get more men interested in their health.

The Campaign for Real Ale, organisers of the festival, seems to have cracked it. Name bars after big names in health and medicine, for example, there is the Snow bar (my favourite story in public health history) and the Seacole bar.

Before finding the page in the programme that explains the bar names many men (and a fair few women) were heard talking about the theme and the names they recognised.

Maybe a lesson for us all!

Find the names of the bars and the stories behind them on the GBBF website.

'A louder voice in men's health' - Participation opportunity at the Men's Health Forum

Do you want to help to improve men’s health in England and Wales?

Do you want to help to shape the policy agenda in this area?

Do you want to make your voice as a patient heard?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you might be interested in our new participation opportunity...

We are currently recruiting volunteers who have used NHS services in England and Wales, to become members of our MHF Advisory Panel.

At the Men's Health Forum we produce a range of publications on health conditions, healthy lifestyles and wellbeing. We also work on health policy, responding to consultations and putting forward our ideas about how the health inequalities experienced by men should best be tackled.

We already consult men about our work informally, but now we would like to establish an MHF Advisory Panel to consult on key aspects of our activities. We are looking for a diverse range if participants from all walks of life to take part.

If you think you might be interested, click here and we will send you more details.

Sounding the changes

Hopefully you've seen that the MHF is recruiting. The deadline for one of the posts is still a week away, so if you're the right person to join the crack team as Head of Business & Service Development you've a long weekend to refine your application.

The lucky person will join us at our office in London SE1, in the streets where BBC 6 Music filmed their advert currently on BBC tv.

Health bill must tackle inequalities

Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley, giving control to GPs.

The MHF highlighted areas where the government's health bill needs amending so that it delivers on the warm words about inequalities. GP newspaper has now picked up on this, highlighting that we should not miss this opportunity.

However, the government is still under pressure - just days after coalition partners the Liberal Democrats called for changes to the bill, BMA doctors will meet to do that same and possibly more.

Many are hoping that the bill that goes on to debated by all MPs will be different to the one the committee started with.

A committee of MPs is studying the details of the government's bill until the end of March, so there is still time to contact your MP about it.

A brief thought on role of the voluntary sector in the new Health and Social Care structures

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here and it's probably a huge understatement to say a lot has happened on the health and social care policy front! This government is certainly keen to expedite the rate at which they legislate!

Recently a number of policy documents particularly relevant to men’s health have been published: the cancer strategy, mental health strategy and of course the Public Health White Paper - consultation on which concludes at the end of March. Additionally, the Health and Social Care Bill is making its way through the parliamentary stages.

When we pause to breathe, it’s important to reflect on the role of the voluntary sector in the new health and social care structures. A couple of things are clear - national voluntary sector organisations will have to become much more proficient at engaging on a local level, and local voluntary sector organisations will have to become even more proficient at having their voices heard, to influence local Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA).

Influencing the JSNA will be key, if seldom heard and marginalised groups are to be considered in local commissioning and service delivery. A huge emphasis will be placed on using the JSNA to provide a blueprint to guide local commissioning. If the local VCS can’t campaign to have its needs included here, they are likely to be marginalised further. It is a concern that there is no current requirement to have a voluntary sector representative on Local Authority Health and Wellbeing Boards (those who will oversee the development of JSNAs). This lack of representation feels like a backward step in many ways. Those of us who work in the voluntary sector will have to work hard to explore other avenues to ensure we make our mark on local JSNAs.

Who really benefits from the 'man flu' jibes?

Happy new year everyone. Apologies for the lack of posts but yes, I've had 'flu. Was it 'man flu'? I don't think so and I'm sure my girlfriend who also had it - worse than me - would agree.

However, the suspicion remains that men make a lot of fuss about nothing. Do we? Frankly I couldn't care less. What does worry me is that men already visit the doctors less than women and the fear of looking like whinging malingerers might deter them further. Our snap survey on the latest Boots advert suggests that many of you agree - although perhaps not for the same reasons.

Much excitement in many news outlets including the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail - where they call men wimps - about a survey suggesting South Korean men 'overrate' the symptoms of a cold. Maybe but key point may be to be found in the final buried paragraphs. The researchers suggest Korean men might get more colds than women because they tend to be the main bread winners, and hence 'may experience higher levels of work-related strerrors'.

The Mail quotes Dr Olivia Carlton, president of the Society of Occupational Medicine who described the findings were a wake-up call for employers. Dr John Hobson, editor of the scientific journal Occupational Medicine said men with colds 'may be under work-related stress, which is something that an employer or manager may be able to do something about.'

Indeed, conspiracy theorists might suggest the whole 'man flu' business is an employers' ruse to get us all into work.

Delivering Male

This is rarely the happiest time of year, the weather's grim and with Christmas gone there's little to look forward to.

However, I was cheered by the coverage in today's Times on men and depression. It sounds wrong to say that, so I'll explain.

Each of the articles making up the feature, which spreads over several pages, is positive. From Alastair Campbell on how he's managed through his working life, David Baddiel about his top tip to the wise words of Dr Mark Porter. There's a challenge in dealing with depression, individually and as a health professional but with the right approach it can be dealt with.

The Times feature was inspired by the new report from the Forum and our friends at Mind, Delivering Male. The report's heavyweight stuff which, for the first time, sets out guidance on tackling the mental well-being of men and boys. It's the latest in the Men's Health Forum's work on mental health.

Read the report and follow us on twitter.

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