Male reluctance to acknowledge their health problems is being addressed head on in a new pilot scheme in Northern Ireland.
Royal College of Nursing spokesperson Colleen Morrison said this reluctance was one possible reason why men die on average earlier than women. ‘For example, it has been well documented that men in the UK visit their doctor, on average, four times less than women and as a direct consequence often present with symptoms late in the course of an illness.’
She told the BBC that a better understanding of male health among nurses may help ‘to develop and deliver innovative and gender sensitive care for me.
Ms Morrison, who is RCN policy and practice development fellow for men's health, said they hoped ‘this work will then be identified as a model of best practice throughout the UK. We hope that this work will influence the current health policy for men and promote a more gender specific approach to policy development within health care’.
She said men and women have very different attitudes towards health. The RCN wants to show how nursing practice can improve men's lives.
