Men's Health Forum UK: Best Practice Guide - How Male Health Can Be Enhanced Through Community Pharm

This project took the form of a workplace intervention in area of the United Kingdom with lower male life expectancy than average with men from mixed backgrounds. The project sought to find out from the men their views and insights on the interactions between health and the use of pharmacies as a gateway to manging health. There are both barriers and opportunities for pharmacies to take a larger role as providers in promoting ways for men to access preventative health and wellbeing services.  

Major Findings From This Research

• There is a misconception about pharmacies in that men viewed them as a female domain. Despite having seen the available private consulting rooms, men did not consider them in accessing health because most of the publicly visible 'consulting' activity in the pharmacy involved females.
• Pharmacists would benefit by better understanding the kinds of barriers that prevent men from making use of their services. There could be a wider role for pharmacists to be more visible in going out to the community, educational establishments and workplaces.
• This visible and proactive approach would help to build up trust between men and the pharmacy service and would help men access available health services.
• Programs running as workplace-based interventions need to consider the separation between work and home - this means that health messaging delivered during work time may be 'sidelined' after the man leaves work for the day, along with work-related thinking.