More than just moustaches: What employers can do to improve the state of Men’s Health in 2020

Every ‘Movember’, men’s health is put into sharp focus, and as the month ends, the ‘Mo Bros’ moustaches and beards make way for festivities and winter celebrations. The noise of these festivities often drowns out the previous month’s critical workplace conversations on men’s health. In the age of work-from-home and reduced social interaction, the dire state of men’s health is being brought into sharp focus again.

Heart disease, cancer, and suicide remain the leading causes of death among men, and despite staggering advances in medicine, men still die seven years earlier than women (on an average*).

So, why is men’s health in such a poor state? On the face of it, it could appear that men don’t care about their health as much as women. They tend to make riskier choices, don’t visit the doctor as often, and generally have a very relaxed attitude to their overall health and fitness. Sadly, many of the conditions that kill men could be avoided by early intervention or lifestyle modifications.

There are also deeper issues at play, a lack of funding for men’s health and a disappointing scarcity of policy reform to support men’s health initiatives**.

In comparison to women, men choose not to talk about or share their experiences with illnesses like cancer**. Thinking about our own mortality often scares us, or we simply do not prioritise our wellbeing over others, Movember is our chance to set some time aside and refocus our priorities.

What can employers do to help? There are considerable resources and materials available to men during Movember and I have highlighted below some ways in which employers can take the initiative to ensure better health for men:

1.     Encourage Male Employees to attend Annual Check Ups

Annual check-ups are not just important – they are essential. The unfortunate reality is that tailored men’s health packages are harder to find and often expensive. While general packages are common for all genders, there are some screenings and tests that men need to do for conditions like prostate cancer which aren’t always included as part of an annual health checkup. 1 in 9 men will get prostate cancer once in their lives~ – a fact that doesn’t scare most men into being prepared and taking charge of their health.

Solution:

Make sure you build Customised Wellness Benefits into your Employer Medical Programme and conduct regular guidance and awareness sessions for your employees on key healthcare issues. Arrange for prostate cancer screening offers (if not already covered by insurance) and highlight the elevated risks to your employees.

2.     Understand that mental health is important

While it saddens me that suicide is the second leading cause of death among men under the age of 45~, it does not surprise me. Mental health is generally a taboo subject, and when it comes to men, the stigma is amplified. Depression is often invisible and when men are taught from a young age that expressing emotions is a sign of weakness the issue is exacerbated. COVID-19 has likely increased the risk of depression and anxiety due to isolation and I am concerned about the long- term health implications this will cause.

Women tend to reach out for help more than men do, which is why even though women experience depression twice as much as men, men commit suicide four times as much as women~~.

Solution:

Ensure your company benefits offer counseling/psychological consultations – these can be arranged through an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), your insurance or a third-party relationship. Set up anonymous messaging solutions between your employees and human resources. Encourage open discussion with friends, fellow colleagues and family members.

3.     Pay close attention to your management teams

Workplace issues are one of the main causes of stress among men, and bad managers are the most likely cause. Being able to identify poor managers is something that takes time, skill and natural ability. Many businesses in the UAE sadly suffer from the Peter Principle, which says that people rise up the hierarchy in their organisation based on their performance, till they reach a point where they no longer perform well. Many leaders also lack the self-awareness that is required to counter this issue and tend not to accept criticism or feedback.

Stress has been shown to increase the risk of a lot of other dangerous conditions in men, like prostate cancer, heart disease and lower immunity among others^.

Solution;

Changing the hierarchical structure of your organization will allow for a direct channel between you and your colleagues and keeping an open-door policy is a simple way to do this.

Allowing employees to vent their frustrations through the right channels without fearing repercussion is important as they will then keep you abreast of things that are working, and not working. Absolute discretion is essential. Reshuffling the organization regularly to avoid personality and competency clashes promotes a healthy working environment. If a manager is not performing well, creating a negative work environment, or causing unnecessary stress among their teams through their action or inaction, it is essential that you take the initiative to re-assign or remove them from the organisation.

You can also ensure that employee wellness is an organisational priority and invest in employee engagement. Some level of stress is inevitable in the workplace, but you need to differentiate between good stress or ‘eustress’ and negative stress or ‘distress’. With the right incentives and a healthy work environment your employees can offset & manage a large amount of the pressure and feel happy about coming to work every day, rather than dreading it.

The lowdown:

Bad health is bad for business and the statistics related to men’s health are alarming and appear to be only getting worse. Men continue to have a higher death rate than women in 8 of the 9 leading causes of death^^ and we must do our part to improve this.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us the impact that a simple virus can have on our working lives and reiterated that our health is the one asset we cannot afford to overlook. As men and business leaders, let’s take a collective decision to be more responsible with our individual health while also empowering our employees to do the same, and let 2021 finally be the year we turn the statistics around for men everywhere.

Sources:

*https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-men-often-die-earlier-than-women-201602199137

**https://prostate.org.nz/2014/01/men-die-earlier-womens-health-gets-four-times-funding/

~https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/leading-causes-of-death-in-men

~~https://save.org/about-suicide/suicide-facts/

^https://www.stress.org/how-to-tell-when-a-man-is-stressed

^^https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-09-healthy-men-alarming-statistics-death.html