Movember is an annual November campaign where people grow moustaches to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, including prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health/suicide prevention.
It began in 2003 and has since grown into a global movement supporting thousands of health projects.
This year the Movember Institute has shared a Local Government Charter for men’s health and a template Council Motion for local councils to adopt:
You can copy the Men’s Health Charter below. It commits your council to a series of actions and commitments to support men’s health. It can be signed by the Leader of the Council (and other appropriate councillors) and formally adopted.
You can also move the Council Motion (also below) that commits your council to adopt the charter once passed.
Men’s Health Charter
Across England, men face a greater risk of premature death than women. Two fifths of men still die before their 75th birthday. Suicide is the most common cause of death amongst men aged 20-34, and a baby boy born today can expect to live four years fewer than a baby girl.
We now have a national Men’s Health Strategy for England. An opportunity to take a gender lens to improve health outcomes across the country, It recognises that men are more at risk of certain conditions, and the importance of social norms and networks to health. Services and outreach efforts can respond to this – creating services that fit round our communities, not services that expect communities to fit around them.
We know certain groups of men are more impacted by poor health outcomes. [Include details of groups who have particularly poor health outcomes in your area – this will vary across the country.] Alongside a gender lens, we recognise the importance of considering ethnicity, disability, sexuality and economic deprivation when it comes to men’s health. Working with local communities to understand how life experiences shapes men’s health and their access to services can also improve the focus of work and outcomes e.g homelessness, occupational disease, violence, addiction. In [Local Authority area] health outcomes are worse amongst men who [include details of worst affected groups].
This is about improving men’s health alongside women’s health – both are important. We should recognise that both men and women face specific, gendered health challenges, and that services should be tailored to the people who use them. We need to be sure that services that help people live well support men and women equally. The ‘Must know’ questions on men’s health can help frame our work in this area.
As a council we are committed to working with NHS partners to ensure that more men in [Local Authority area] live longer, healthier lives.
In [Local Authority area] there are already programmes in place to support men’s health. These include [insert details of key programmes taking place].
[The LGA has collated data on men’s health outcomes. You can check how your council performs against others here]
As a council, we are committed to go further.
We commit to:
- Appoint a senior executive member to lead on Men’s Health.
[name] will lead on Men’s Health, working to improve men’s health across the council, NHS and community services.
- Collect the right data.
Through the health and wellbeing board, we will ensure that sex disaggregated data is collected on health service usage. The Director of Public Health will include a section on men’s health in their annual report.
- Fund men’s health initiatives.
Health is in everything. We will make sure our grant funding supports men’s health, whether grants are for directly health-related activities, or more activities that impact on health and wellbeing, such as for culture or leisure. We will ensure improving men’s health and wellbeing is included in the criteria for awarding grants, where this is appropriate.
- Focus on those facing the worst health outcomes.
Alongside gender, we will consider how ethnicity, disability, sexuality and economic deprivation, and life experiences shape men’s health and their access to services. In [Local Authority area] certain groups face the worst health outcomes. We will work with communities to increase access to services, and ensure that programmes to prevent poor health are effective for men from all walks of life. In [Local Authority area] we will focus on [consider deprivation, ethnicity, disability and sexuality alongside certain life experiences].
- Ensure that health outreach works for men.
We will work to increase uptake of health checks by ensuring that outreach activities are tailored to men. Our outreach work will take place in familiar settings, to reach men services might otherwise miss. We will also ensure a focus on groups of men with the worst health outcomes locally.
- Commit to a plan.
We need to see systemic change to improve men’s health in [Local Authority area]. We commit to bringing forward a Local Men’s Health Strategy, driven by the Health and Wellbeing Board. We’ll listen to men in [Local Authority area] to ensure the strategy works for them. We’ll bring together local NHS service providers and community partners. As part of this plan, we’ll carry out a scoping exercise to understand how we can build on existing work.
Signed:
Leader of the Council
Men’s Health Lead
Template Council Motion
This Council Notes:
- Across England, men face a greater risk of premature death than women. Two fifths of men still die before their 75th birthday. Suicide is the most common cause of death amongst men aged 20-34, and a baby boy born today can expect to live four years fewer than a baby girl.
- Men in [local area] face particular health challenges. [Insert detail on groups of men who are facing the greatest health inequality locally. This will vary across the country. Consider using the LGA’s data set here.].
This Council Believes:
- As a council we have the ability to promote men’s health by bringing together men and boys, their families, NHS partners and community organisations.
- Health is not just about the absence of illness. We can promote improved health through access to green spaces, leisure services and cultural activities. We recognise the importance of rich social networks to health, and the importance of access to good quality employment and financial stability.
- By introducing a men’s health charter, we are not downplaying the importance of women’s health. This charter should fit within the council’s broader equalities objectives, ensuring that services are fit and tailored to the residents who use them. But we need to recognise that health services should be sensitive to gender, and that certain health conditions are more likely to impact men, and that gender norms affect health.
This Council Resolves to:
- Adopt Movember’s Men’s Health Charter.
- Appoint a senior executive member to lead on Men’s Health. [name] will lead on Men’s Health, working to improve men’s health across the council, NHS and community services.
- Collect the right data. Through the health and wellbeing board, we will ensure that sex disaggregated data is collected on health service usage. The Director of Public Health will include a section on men’s health in their annual report.
- Fund men’s health initiatives. Health is in everything. We will make sure our grant funding supports men’s health, whether grants are for directly health-related activities, or more activities that impact on health and wellbeing, such as for culture or leisure.
- Focus on those facing the worst health outcomes. We will consider how ethnicity, disability, sexuality and economic deprivation, and life experiences shape men’s health and their access to services.
- Ensure that health outreach works for men. We will work to increase uptake of health checks by ensuring that outreach activities are tailored to men. Our outreach work will take place in familiar settings, to reach men services might otherwise miss.
- Commit to a plan. We need to see systemic change to improve men’s health in [Local Authority area]. We commit to bringing forward a Local Men’s Health Strategy, driven by the Health and Wellbeing Board. We’ll listen to men in [Local Authority area] to ensure the strategy works for them. We’ll bring together local NHS service providers and community partners.