Features Archive
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The White Ribbon Campaign Scotland
On the 30th March 2006, a new movement to involve men in campaigning to end violence against women began with the “Stop Violence Against Women: Involving Men” conference, organised by Amnesty International Scotland and Men’s Health Forum Scotland. This conference, and the others that followed it in London, Belfast and Cardiff, aimed to promote the principle that violence against women cannot be stopped without the involvement of non- perpetrating men. The conferences encouraged open discussion of this idea and the issues related to it, while presentations from people already involving men in their campaigning aimed to inspire participants to take equivalent action in the UK. Read more
Scottish Executive: Men talking about violence against women. Read more
Men and M.E. - Get informed. Get diagnosed. Get Help!
Action for M.E.'s theme for its 2007 campaign, officially launched at the beginning of May to coicide with M.E. Awareness Month, is 'Men & M.E.'. The campaign includes the launch of the results of a major survey undertaken earlier this year to discover how the illness impacts on men - including how it affects men's sense of masculinity and identity, and their likelihood of getting quickly diagnosed.
A 'fast' diagnosis (i.e. within one year) has been shown to significantly reduce recovery time.
Visit www.afme.org.uk for more information
Men's sheds in Australia: Learning through community contexts
Men's sheds organisations are typicaly located in shed or workshop type spaces in community settings that provide opportunities for regular hands-on activity by groups deliberately and mainly comprising men. They have recently proliferated across parts of southern Australia with higher proportions of older men not in work. To find out more click on the link below:
http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1780.html#Availability
£3 'Primetime' Telly Vote To Get Older Scots Active
TV presenter Dougie Vipond donned a wetsuit alongside actress Dorothy Paul to call Scotland's over 50s to action with the lure of £3m in cash. BBC Scotland and the Big Lottery Fund have joined forces on Primetime, the biggest ever Lottery cash award where Scottish viewers vote for the projects they wanted funded.
Read more......
Primetime Guidance notes (pdf)
Primetime Outline Proposal Form (pdf)
LifeLink - 5-a-side football
LifeLink are organising a 5-a-side game every Friday night, 7:30pm at the local Powerleague centre. This will start on Friday 6th July. The game is only £1.50 per person.
The aim of the activity will be to create an opportunity for isolated men, who suffer from poor mental health or are not currently taking any exercise, to take part in regular physical activity and develop strong social connections with others in a similar situation.
It doesn't matter what level you think your football skills are, if you fancy a game, or just want to improve your fitness and have a bit of a laugh every Friday night then contact Peter Copeland at:
Millburn Centre, 21 Millburn Street, Royston, Glasgow, G21 2HL
Tel: 0141 548 1515 Fax: 0141 548 1353
Web: www.lifelink.org.uk
The Gender Equality Duty (GED) is the most significant change in sex equality law in 30 years and could radically transform the way public bodies, including NHS Scotland, delivers services that are responsive to the needs of women and men.
"Fair For All - Gender" is a partnership project between the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD). This project ties into the existing Fair For All strands on race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion and belief.
Fair For All - Gender is helping to support the NHS in Scotland to mainstream gender equality considerations into planning and delivery and ensure the health service meets its obligation under the new pulbic sector Gender Equality Duty, which comes into place on 6th April 2007.
The EOC Gender Health Guidance was launched on Friday 16th February 2007 to support the NHS in Scotland to implement the Gender Equality Duty.
New Scottish Executive Ad Campaign Encourages Men To Look After Their Minds As Well As Their Bodies
While research shows that men are more likely than women to keep on top of their physical fitness, many Scottish men still seem to be unaware of how to look after their minds. Good mental health is just as important as good physical health. Read more
Source: www.wellscotland.info
DNA reveals men's heart disease risk
Middle-aged men with short telomeres – strips of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes – could have a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than those with long telomeres, a new study has found. Read more
Source: www.inthenew.co.uk Friday 12th January 2007
In race to treat cancer, are men sidelined by the NHS?
CANCER treatment in Scotland appears to favour women over men, who face longer waits and delays in treatment, a leading doctor has warned. Read more
Source: Scotsman 1st January 2007
Consultancy with men in England about Accessing Services:
Men's Health Forum England have released a study outlining men's opinions as to why they, and other men do not visit the Doctor's surgery.
The results of their consultation are likely to have value for anyone interested in improving service provision for men.
The link to the document can be downloaded from the Men's Health Forum England site here.
Warning: boozing is giving us mouth cancer
Campaigners warn that binge drinking is giving hundred of Scots mouth cancer. The illness now kills 600 people in Scotland each year after a 30% rise in the number of cases. A study by Cancer Research UK revealed that three quarters of Scots knew they faced a greater risk of mouth cancer if they smoked but less than a quarter were aware that alcohol is also a serious risk factor. Cancer Research's Open Up to Mouth Cancer campaign will run for three years.
Source: Daily Record 16/11/05 , Alcohol Focus Scotland
Bid for Well Man clinics and MOTs
April 2004
The Scottish
Executive Health Department (SEHD) has recently formalised its
proposal to earmark £4 million to support the development of
Well Man clinics and MOT checks across
Scotland.
Available to download are the documents
they have circulated to people who may be interested in
developing a proposal. The documents have been batched as a
single PDF and include an invitation letter, the Invitation to
Bid document, an interim report, a Q and A and a report on
Wellman Camelon.
The SEHD contact
is:
Doreen Waller
Health Improvement
Strategy Division
2 ES ,St Andrews House
Regent
Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
Phone 0131 244 2136 (Ext
42136)
Related Files
July 2003
Responsible drinking - remember
that?
Okay, hands up those of us who have drunk
too much and can't remember getting home/what you did/what you
said/if you had sex etc etc? (Tick the answers that apply to
you!). Most of us have a tale to tell about drunken antics,
but are we taking risks with our health and physical safety?
According to a survey carried out by a leading female
magazine, we are quite happy to take risks that we wouldn't
normally. (Before any of you guys click elsewhere thinking
this is just about women, it's not!). Simply because of being
drunk:
- 30% of readers had unprotected sex
- 50% walked home alone
- 41% had at least one regretted one-night stand
- 19% got into an unregistered "taxi"
They are not blaming alcohol, but their regretted behaviour
illustrates the way alcohol lowers inhibitions - dulled senses
and skewed judgement - i.e. they behaved in a way that they
wouldn't normally.
We like to think of ourselves as being quite chic and
having adopted many aspects of sophisticated European
lifestyles, such as coffee bars and designer clothes. Yet,
getting drunk in many European countries is considered
unattractive and having a lack of self-control. Why do we
ignore this and carry on with the Scottish culture of
associating having a good time with being drunk? Many people
think it's okay to get as plastered as possible at the
weekend, because it is seen as a way of relaxing and
socialising. This type of drinking is known as "binge
drinking".
Many people mistakenly believe that because they don't
drink during the week and only at the weekend, they are not
causing their body any harm. However binge drinking basically
overloads the system by placing great strain on various parts
of your body, particularly the stomach and throat. The reason
why we feel so unwell after a night's heavy drinking is due to
the body trying to recover and repair itself.
You may have heard people talking about drinking within
"safe" limits and wondered what these are. Here are the
low-risk levels of drinking:
- Women: 2-3 units per day but not exceeding 14 units in
total for the week
- Men: 3-4 units per day but not exceeding 21 units in
total for the week
- Remember to have at least two "alcohol-free" days each
week.
What is a unit?
Roughly speaking, a unit is half a pint of normal strength
lager or beer, or a pub measure of spirits and that's about
it!
Pre-mixed spirit drinks and bottled beers tend to be around
1_ units, sometimes 2 (or more) depending on the strength. The
unit content of drinks vary tremendously depending on the
alcohol by volume - this is displayed as abv%.
For example, a bottle of wine at 8%abv contains 6 units,
whereas a bottle of wine at 13.5% contains over 10
units.
Fact - alcohol is a psychoactive (mind-altering)
drug and a poison
Myth - black coffee, cold showers, and the "hair of
the dog" can sober you up. These are all myths. Only time can
sober you up as alcohol needs to be processed by the liver (at
a rate of one unit per hour).
If you are going on a night out, here are some
tips:
Eat before you drink - food helps to slow the absorption of
alcohol into the bloodstream
Alcohol and drugs don't mix - avoid trying it!
Reduce your risk of a hangover - have a soft drink for
every alcoholic drink, or at least drink water before going to
bed
If you have a hangover - increase your fluid intake
(non-alcoholic of course!) and eat something to raise your
blood sugar level
Alcohol Focus Scotland produces a range of different
leaflets about sensible drinking, drinking and driving,
alcohol and sexual health. For a full list of leaflets or
information on further help available, contact Alcohol Focus
Scotland on 0141 572 6700, or visit their website: http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/
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