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Opinion: A different gender gap? – Dr Joe Kosterich
A different gender gap
Men and their health is complex and needs understanding from clinicians, writes Dr Joe Kosterich, Clinical Editor.
By all measures, men do worse when it comes to health. Life expectancy is lower, rates of smoking and alcohol-related problems are higher. Suicides are significantly higher. Even deaths from COVID-19 have been higher in males. Of course, there has been improvement over the years. The current generation drinks less than the previous one. Cancer and heart disease survival has improved, and life expectancy has increased albeit the gender gap remains. The question that has always intrigued me is whether men ‘ignore’ their health as is often claimed or do they have it lower on the priority list. For example, I know too much alcohol is not good for me, but I want to enjoy it anyway. I am aware of that niggling pain, but it does not bother me enough to get it seen to. And the big one, I feel sad, or down, but I will ‘soldier on’.
None of this is a criticism of anybody. On the flip side, does our health system cater as well for men as it does for women? Despite being less paternalistic than in the past, entry into the health system still requires people to cede a degree of autonomy. This may not come that easily to many men. In mental health, counselling is valuable but talking about feelings comes more naturally (in general and yes, we are all different) to females. An initiative which has been successful is the Men’s Shed. This is a non-medical model which allows ‘blokes’ to get together and talk whilst also engaging in activities. It enables discussion between peers and the sharing of experiences. Is it a ‘treatment’? Of course not. But not everything that humans experience has a medical cause nor needs a medical approach. It is certainly the case that men (and women too) can be the authors of their own misfortune. There is a clear limit to what any other person or any system can do when the individual is not interested.
What we can do is understand the drivers in men’s health and do as best we can to improve it, one bloke at a time.
