In the matter of personal healthcare, men are the weaker sex. While women will self-examine and report anything unusual, men often ignore a problem and hope it will just go away...

When it comes to talking about his own health, the normally macho male becomes a healthcare hermit, says pharmacy consultant Glen Savage of Pharmacoach.

“Further to IQ and EQ, if we created a new arbitrary healthcare intelligence, say HQ, men would score much lower than women on this scale. Why? Because in the matter of personal healthcare, men are the weaker sex. Women will self-examine and report anything unusual. They will proactively have regular checks, such as mammograms. If men detect something, they will often ignore it and hope it just magically goes away.”

This offers pharmacy a golden opportunity, he says. “With care and focus, pharmacy professionals could draw men out of their shells to address their health, fitness and wellbeing.”

Nick Kaye, superintendent pharmacist at S. Kaye & Son Ltd, agrees. “Men tend to be bad at engaging with healthcare, as it scares us. This, however, does put pharmacy in a unique place to intervene in men’s health.”

Since men do not engage as effectively with health services as women, particularly those of working age, they are less likely to: 
• Visit a GP
• Attend a NHS health check
• Opt for bowel cancer screening
• Take a chlamydia test, or...
• Visit a pharmacy.

There is a clear link between men’s lower use of primary care and their higher rate of accessing hospital services. “Research from the Men’s Health Forum suggests that men have lower health literacy than women and are less likely to research or engage with health services, ignoring symptoms until it is often too late,” says Deborah Evans, managing director of Pharmacy Complete and previously the national lead for the healthy living pharmacy (HLP) initiative.

The research, for example, suggests that 67 per cent of men are overweight or obese, yet only 10-20 per cent of those on NHS weight loss programmes are men. The NHS health check programme, which focuses on circulatory conditions, is also underutilised by men, with the result that men account for 71 per cent of CVD-related deaths in the under-65s.

“Actively promoting the NHS health check programme through pharmacy, specifically targeting men’s health, is a good starting point and, of course, would be financially rewarding for the pharmacies themselves,” says Glen Savage.

How do you grab a man’s attention?

The type of communication used will have a big impact on a man’s willingness to engage with health matters, says Trevor Gore, director of Maestro Consulting. “Men tend to be risk averse rather than reward seeking, so pharmacy teams should reframe how they promote their services to men. For example, rather than saying ‘if you do this you’ll live forever’, a message such as ‘if you don’t do this, you may not play football again’ may have more sway.”

Pharmacies need to be prepared to try something different, such as taking their services out of the pharmacy and see what happens as a result, says Nick Kaye, who has seen pharmacists doing blood pressure checks at local rugby and swimming clubs.

Gary Choo, a pharmacy consultant, agrees. “Why not go to a football match or place of work, such as an industrial estate or garage, to carry out health checks?” he asks.

“Men can be highly competitive, so a pharmacy could conduct regular weight management assessments in these locations. Men may well then put in more effort to see who loses the most.”

“We actually go to the pub and carry out blood pressure checks,” says Ade Williams of Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol. “Rather than focusing our effort on people coming into the pharmacy, we take pharmacy out into the community. We also go to gyms and have links with local podiatrists, chiropractors and physios to encourage them to refer patients to us.

“Each year we run a men’s health campaign called “The Bemmy Challenge”. Any man who gets his weight, waist and BP measured receives a brief alcohol intervention and a free gift. We highlight and run the campaign through local barbers and tattoo parlours, which refer people to us.

“The Lord Mayor of Bristol promoted the campaign after his health check with us by sharing his story of how he had to lose weight as he was pre-diabetic and needed to cut out eating cakes at functions!”

What else can pharmacy do?

Many pharmacies have become involved in the healthy living pharmacy initiative, especially since this was included as part of the Quality Payments Scheme in England. To be awarded HLP status, pharmacy teams must demonstrate and apply a healthy living ethos throughout their daily practice by providing advice
on a range of lifestyle-related health issues.

“Being a healthy living pharmacy has helped us to become aware of our local health profile, which helps us to frame and deliver our services. For example, we know that a high proportion of men in our local community smoke, so we run a successful smoking cessation programme,” says Ade Williams.

Getting your team involved is a really important part of the HLP model, says Deborah Evans. “The reality is that community pharmacy will lose business to online providers unless it adds value at every opportunity. When running a pharmacy business, providing a memorable customer experience is essential. 

“Ensure every team member is adding value and making the pharmacy indispensable to the local community. Look at what is happening around you. What can you do to protect your business and the sector?”

The HLP programme offers not only good business benefits but can help make inroads in engaging men with healthcare, says Glen Savage. “Pharmacies need to be going beyond just customer service and delivering a customer experience. Pharmacies should seriously look at the HLP programme and consider what it can do for their customers and their business.”

What about marketing?

It can be a challenge to get men to talk about delicate subjects or indeed any personal matters. “Men can be harder to engage with on health topics as they may not visit the pharmacy as often as women, and are less inclined to open up and discuss any problems or concerns,” says Clare Clark of Alphega Pharmacy.

“Many men find talking about conditions such as hair loss or weight management embarrassing – so counter staff need to be aware of the sensitive nature of these conditions and make use of the consultation room or private area when appropriate.”

There is a very prominent sign in our pharmacy saying that there is a private consultation room available, says Ade Williams. Other practical ideas include signs around the pharmacy pointing out that patients can speak to a female or male member of staff.

Some things that have worked well include simple shelf-edge labels highlighting men’s health issues near to products such as male toiletries and medication for pain relief and fungal nail infections, says Nick Kaye.

“We also use leaflets and a lot of material from the Men’s Health Forum,” adds Ade Williams. “We have posters around the pharmacy on issues such as weight and alcohol – they were easy to download from the website and contain a good balance of humour and information.”

... and technology?

Technology should also be harnessed to target men. Messages on pharmacy websites, including what services are offered, are important, says Glen Savage. “Simple tools like a BMI calculator and information on signs and symptoms of male-related conditions can help to draw men into the pharmacy.”

We take pharmacy out into the community