First Scientific Men's Health Conference in Denmark

Saturday 19th to Sunday 20th June saw the first Danish scientific Conference on Men’s Health was held at Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet.

The conference was organized by Dr. Svend Aage Madsen, Head of ‘Department of Psychology, Play Therapy & Social Work’ at The Juliane Marie Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet. Svend Aage. Madsen was also head of the initiatives during Men’s Health Week 2004 in Denmark arranged by Copenhagen University Hospital, Danish National Health Board, and Ministry for Gender Equality is a member of the board of Society of Men’s Health, Denmark.

Keynote speakers at the opening of the conference were: Dr. Ian Banks, President of European Men’s Health Forum, speaking on “Men’s Health: A No Man’s Land” and Wolfgang Rutz, MD PhD, Uppsala Academic Hospital; former WHO, Regional Office for Europe, speaking on: "Men’s Health on the European Health Agenda - Experiences from 6 years work on mental health at the WHO in Europe"

New Danish, Norwegian and Swedish research on men’s health from medicine, psychology, sociology, epidemiology, and philosophy was presented at the two-day conference.

Some of the other topics were:

• “Men’s ageing, health behaviour, and causes of death”, by Kaare Christensen, Professor of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, and Knud Juel, Ph.D., National Institute of Public Health, Denmark. The two lectures were followed by a panel discussion.
  
• “Gender differences in health in Denmark” by Karin Helweg-Larsen, MD, National Institute of Public Health, Denmark.
   
• “Young men’s behaviour at hospital” by Ph.D.-student Kristofer Hansson, Department of European Ethnology, Lund University, Sweden
  
• “Communication between men and hospital staff” by Mette Skov & Mette Ryle, students of philosophy at Department of Psychology, Philosophy and Science Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark
  
• “The testicular dysgenesis syndrome on low semen quality and testis cancer”, by Katharina Main, M.D. Ph.D., Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark
  
• “Men and obesity and men as fathers of obese children” by Hanne Olsen, psychologist, ‘Psychological and Psychosocial Research Unit in Department of Psychology, Play Therapy & Social Work’, The Juliane Marie Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  
• “Prevention of obesity in men” by Ulla Toft, Cand. Scient. Human nutrition & Marianne Sabinsky, Cand. Scient. Human nutrition, Denmark
  
• “Men and Infertility – Biological Fatherhood” by Anna Kathrine Højland, student of psychology, ‘Psychological and Psychosocial Research Unit in Department of Psychology, Play Therapy & Social Work’, The Juliane Marie Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
  
• “Men, mood disorders in connection with childbirth, and psychotherapy” by Svend Aage Madsen, Ph.D., Head of ‘Department of Psychology, Play Therapy & Social Work’ at The Juliane Marie Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark
  
• “Men, sports, and emotions” by Dr. Ulla-Britt Lilleaas., Institute of Sociology and  Oslo University, Oslo, Norway

Fifty participants attended the conference. Several newspapers covered the arrangement and the research presented.

Contact:
Svend Aage Madsen, PhD.
Head of Department of Psychology, Play Therapy & Social Work
The Juliane Marie Centre
Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet
Section 4074 - Blegdamsvej 9
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark
Phone: +45 35454767 - Fax: +45 35456543
E-mail: svaam@rh.dk   &   svendaage@madsen.mail.dk
Web: www.psyksoc.rh.dk