With special guest:
- Glen Poole
… in conversation with Bill Kable
Men’s Health Week sometimes meets with resistance. Comments might include “men and boys are alright aren’t they?” or “Isn’t every week Men’s Health Week?”
These comments indicate that there is a lot of work to do in bringing up the level of awareness on the real state of men’s health. In most cancers which affect males and females more men die than women. The suicide statistics indicate that three men die by suicide for every woman who tragically end their lives this way. All this leads to men having a lower life expectancy than women. Yet if we improve male health it will bring benefits to everyone in the community, not just the men but also the wives, mothers and families of our men.
Our eloquent guest today is the Development Officer of the Australian Men’s Health Forum and a long time campaigner for men’s health and wellbeing. Glen Poole makes a welcome return to Dads on the Air to talk about Men’s Health Week this year and some of the important initiatives we can look forward to. There are over 200 events listed for Men’s Health Week and your local event can be found by going to the Men’s Health Week website.
Speaking of websites Glen is very excited about the new site for the Australian Men’s Health Forum which will come on line in time for Men’s Health Week. A lot of work has gone into making the site bright and welcoming as well as being easy to navigate. We get a sneak preview of the new site.
Also playing a big role in the week is Andrology Australia which is dedicated to improving men’s health particularly relating to the reproductive organs. This includes improving the high mortality rate due to prostate cancer and the incidence of testicular cancer which is becoming more common particularly among our young men. Finally we are starting to talk about some of these unfashionable cancers and others such as bowel cancer which remain among the biggest cancer killers.
The theme of Men’s Health Week is to start at the beginning. Let’s make those healthy connections, get talking, spend time with our friends, maintain close friendships with three people and make sure we are clear about our purpose in life whether you are at school, just left school and looking for a job, or if you have been in a steady job for years or maybe you have just left it for whatever reason. This is a week to look forward to and also one that could make a difference for all of us.
This year is a first with a new song specially written for Men’s Health Week called One Man Down written and performed by Dr Neil Hall. One Man Down is an ode to the men who are having a hard time of it. Sometimes life gets even harder when men are told they are not doing enough to sort themselves out - so they end up feeling put down or blamed for even having problems. It doesn’t help much that support services are not male-friendly or cost more than a bloke doing it tough can afford. About these things, “someone’s got to say stuff”.
Dr Neil Hall is an experienced Social Work academic and Men’s Health researcher at Western Sydney University, and a singer-songwriter with 35 years performance experience.
Glen Poole
Glen Poole is writer, campaigner and practitioner who has been working on mens’ and boys’ issues for over 20 years. Glen has written several books including Inside Man and How You Can Stop Male Suicide in 7 Simple Steps.
Originally from England, Glen was the UK co-ordinator for International Men’s Day for many years and a founding member of the Men & Boys Coalition.
He relocated to Australia in 2015 when he founded the Stop Male Suicide project and since July 2017 has worked for the Australian Men’s Health Forum as their Development Officer.
Song selection by our guest: One Man Down by Neil Hall