| WORKPLACE | | discipline to put it into practice.’ | | she also believes it makes sense to |
| | The project motivated Dean to | | take health promotion messages to |
| PETER BAKER | | follow a daily 20-minute exercise | | [id:27449] since men there are es- |
| | routine: he felt his muscles tighten, | | sentially ‘a captive audience’. |
| | his joints become more flexible and | | If you do not end up in a body fat |
| IF YOU are a man, going to | | his stamina improve. He also started | | competition, you could learn more |
| work might soon feel like a | | to eat more fruit and vegetables and | | about cancer. This summer, North |
| visit to the doctor. Although | | cut back on high-fat foods. ‘I lost | | Derbyshire health promotion service |
| you are unlikely to go home | | weight and felt fitter than I had done | | is planning the national launch of its |
| clutching a prescription, you | | in years,’ he says. ‘The scheme | | 20-minute video for men, Clued Up |
| could find yourself bombarded with | | worked better for me than joining a | | About Cancer. Since research shows |
| health information designed to | | local gym and pumping iron or other | | that men tend to prefer a ‘blokey’ |
| reduce developing heart disease or | | exercise classes I’d tried and | | approach to [id:27450], the video uses |
| cancer. | | dropped out of, [id:27445] I wasn’t fit | | real characters and humour to get its |
| Because men are at high risk of ill- | | enough to keep up.’ | | message across. |
| health, you are liable to be shown | | David Wilkins, health promotion | | In pilot showings, men have |
| videos, handed leaflets or herded | | co-ordinator for Dorset Healthcare | | confounded stereotype: group |
| into seminars, so you can learn about | | NHS Trust, says: ‘We recognised that | | discussions following the videos have |
| the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. | | if we were going to tackle heart | | lasted up to two and a half hours. |
| M25 construction workers, Whitby | | disease effectively, we had to find a | | These initiatives can work only with |
| refuse collectors, Derbyshire Peak | | new way to reach men over 40, | | the co-operation of employers. They |
| park rangers, passport agency staff | | traditionally a very difficult group to | | require time, space and, in the case of |
| and Army soldiers are among those | | work with. | | the Dorset scheme, a financial |
| already exposed to this new [id:27442]. | | | | commitment. ‘There needs to be |
| If you work in Dorset, you could | | You have to be male, middle-aged | | [id:27451] within companies and those |
| join the latest scheme, Keeping It Up, | | and overweight, a key group for | | firms that are keen on health and |
| launched this month by Dorset | | heart disease prevention | | safety are much more likely to take |
| Healthcare NHS Trust. This operates | | | | part,’ says Sandra Jonson, assistant |
| like a mini-football league, but the | | Men are often reluctant to take their | | director of health promotion in |
| teams gain points if their members | | health seriously, and tend to regard | | North Derbyshire. ‘They realise that |
| lose body fat and therefore reduce | | healthy eating or keeping fit as | | taking care of their employees in a |
| risk of heart attack. The league | | women’s issues, but they do see | | wider sense makes sound business |
| includes organisations such as BP, | | [id:27446] as much more important and | | logic’. |
| Eldridge Pope brewery, a further | | appropriate.’ | | The introduction of men’s health |
| education college and several local | | In the pilot project, three-quarters | | initiatives in the workplace inevitably |
| councils. | | of the 70 men taking part lost weight | | excludes those who are unemployed, |
| To take part, you have to be male, | | while the individual winner shed a | | working from home or for employers |
| middle-aged and overweight, a key | | clotbusting one and a half stone. | | unable or unwilling to participate. |
| group for heart disease prevention. | | Initiatives like Keeping It Up go a | | [id:27452], it sits uneasily with recent |
| Team members meet with a tutor at | | long way beyond the traditional | | unhealthy developments like the |
| the workplace for an hour to learn | | approach to health and safety in the | | ever-lengthening working week |
| about diet, exercise and stress | | workplace. Although the Health | | which increases stress and reduces |
| management. At the end of the six- | | Education Authority (HEA) has | | the amount of time men have for |
| month season, the team that has | | been encouraging broader workplace | | exercise. |
| [id:27443] wins a trophy: the Keeping It | | health promotion programmes since | | With too many men still exhibiting |
| Up Challenge Cup. | | the mid-Eighties, aiming some speci- | | a Rambo-like disregard for their |
| Colin Dean, 57, chief road safety | | fically at men is [id:27447]. | | own health, it is surely worth |
| officer for Dorset County Council, | | ‘In health promotion, we’re be- | | investing in any scheme that helps at |
| took part in Keeping It Up’s pilot | | coming more aware of the diffe- | | least some of them reduce their risk |
| project. ‘I’m an [id:27444] local govern- | | rences between men and women and | | of disease. |
| ment officer’, he says. ‘My work is | | our initiatives are now much [id:27448],’ | | |
| about sitting down and my lifestyle | | says Katie Aston, manager for men’s | | ‘The Observer’, April 20, 1997 |
| led me to being unfit. I knew what a | | health programmes at the HEA. | | |
| healthy lifestyle was but lacked the | | Given men’s traditional resistance, | | |
