Time to put Men’s Health Literacy on the map
The Federal Department of Health is seeking feedback on its plans to develop a National Health Literacy Strategy that aims to make it easier for all Australians to get the information and support they need to stay healthy.
In this article we highlight the failure of this Strategy to take account of the needs of men and boys and make the case for a specific focus on “Men’s Health Literacy”.
If you want to have your say on this Strategy and support our call for the Government to put more focus on men’s health, follow the links at the bottom of the article.
What is Men’s Health Literacy?
The development of the National Health Literacy Strategy is one of eight immediate priorities under the National Preventive Health Strategy (NPHS) launched by former Health Minister Greg Hunt in 2021.
During the consultation process for the NPHS, the Australian Men's Health Forum made the case for men to be identified as a priority population. We welcomed the fact that the Strategy stated on Page 1 that it “presents a powerful opportunity for Australia [to reduce] health inequity” and highlighted the following facts:
- In 2018, there were 26,736 potentially avoidable deaths in Australia (16,988 male deaths and 9,748 female deaths).
- Addressing this health inequity between men and women would save more than 7,000 lives a year.
With its focus on tackling health inequity, the NPHS presents a unique opportunity to tackle this gender health gap and improve the lives of men and boys in Australia. Unfortunately, our calls to target men as a priority population in the Strategy were overlooked.
As a result, the final version of the NPHS includes a focus on seven different priority populations, excluding men and boys.
The knock-on effect of this decision is now seen in the draft National Health Literacy Strategy, which takes its lead from the NPHS and so does not consider the specific health needs of men and boys to be a priority.
Priority Populations for Preventive Health
|
|
National Preventive Health Strategy |
|
National Health Literacy Strategy |
|
1 |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander |
1 |
First Nations |
|
2 |
CALD |
2 |
CALD |
|
3 |
Rural, regional and remote |
3 |
Rural and Remote |
|
4 |
LGBTQI+ |
4 |
LGBTQI+ |
|
5 |
People with disability |
5 |
People with disability |
|
6 |
Low socioeconomic status |
6 |
Low socioeconomic status |
|
7 |
People with mental illness |
|
|
This is also a prime example of one the key weaknesses of Australia’s excellent National Men’s Health Strategy (2020-2030), namely, that there is no mechanism within Government to ensure that the principles outlined in the Men’s Strategy are actually put in to action across the Health System.
For example, the number one commitment made in the National Men’s Health Strategy is that the Health System will “provide male-centred information” by applying a “gendered lens to health” by “consciously considering the needs and preferences of men in the design, delivery, promotion and continuous improvement of programs and services”.
For this to happen in practice, the commitment to a “male-friendly” health system needs to be explicitly included in all relevant policies and strategies across the health portfolio.
For example, if we want to improve Men’s Health Literacy and address the fact that nearly 50 Aussie blokes a day are dying from preventable causes, then we need the new National Health Literacy strategy to specifically target men.
Have Your Say
AMHF will be making a submission to the upcoming consultation on the National Health Literacy Strategy. To make sure you voice is heard, please take a few minutes to complete our online survey on Men’s Health Literacy.
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