New men’s health research conducted by Healthwatch England

Key findings and recommendations

NHS Health Checks key findings: 

• Only 37% of eligible men (aged 40 to 74 and with no long-term conditions) said they had ever been invited to an NHS Health Check.
• 56% of men who’d attended a check had made lifestyle changes.
• 92% of men who’d gone for a check would take up a future invite. 

Recommendations:

• Provide stronger direction and oversight to improve the number of invites issued, uptake rates and consistency across local authority areas.
• Collect and publish demographic-specific uptake data, to track how many men attend and analyse which characteristics affect uptake
• Launch an awareness campaign about the Check and encourage tailored outreach to underserved men and those at higher risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Prostate cancer screening key findings: 

• 79% of all men (including 81% of Black men) said they would be likely to attend prostate screening if the NHS introduced it routinely.
• Only 36% of men aged 50 and over had asked their GP for a PSA test
• Seven percent of those who’d asked for a PSA test had been refused (though caution is advised on this statistic given it is a low sample).

Recommendations: 

• Policymakers should consider men’s views, alongside clinical and economic evidence, when deciding on whether to introduce a national prostate cancer screening programme.
• Issue clear, consistent guidance for the public and GPs on whether asymptomatic men aged 50 and older can receive, or only request, a PSA test. 

Mental Health Key findings:

• 52% of men said they would visit their GP, and only one-in-five (20%) would self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies if they experienced mental health issues.
• Men were significantly less likely than women to turn to their friends and family for mental health support (38% vs 45%). 

Recommendations: 

• Mental health support should remain varied with a ‘no wrong door’ approach to suicide prevention and improve referrals pathways from the third sector.
• Improve awareness of NHS talking therapies, including clearer information on how data is handled. Data should also be disaggregated between self and GP referrals, to understand where to target changes in behaviour to improve uptake.

Health literacy key findings: 

• One in 10 men use AI, like Chat GPT, for health information; but mostly used the NHS.
• Men mostly want to receive information from the NHS via email and the NHS App. 

Recommendations: 

Create a men’s health page on the NHS website, raise awareness of spotting and avoiding online misinformation and develop health literacy from a younger age. 

Priorities for change key findings: 

Better GP access is the top priority for change in the NHS for men; they want to see the same GP for new and ongoing physical and mental health problems and would wait longer for an appointment to do so. 

Recommendations: 

The new strategy should focus on continuity of care, where clinically appropriate