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Welcome to my new website...

Welcome to my new webpage and my first blog. A lot has happened since the closure of the Centre for Men’s Health and my new role as a retired Emeritus Professor started. I will not dwell on the closure of the Centre, but suffice to say that it was a difficult period for all of us and a sad loss to men’s health. The support we were offered from around the world was incredible and my hope is that the work we started can continue in other academic groups and in my new capacity I will certainly not be stopping my work.
Over the last few months there has been a great deal happening – my future blogs will be more topic focused,  but for this first one I have tried to give an insight into the kind of activity that fills my time.

September saw the start of the WHO (European Region) Men’s health report and strategy in Copenhagen, this is a huge development and so important for the international recognition of men’s health. It was an excellent meeting, with representatives from across the WHO, and now our core group is taking forward the work, heading for completion towards the end of 2018.

In September we also had the meeting of the Prostate Cancer UK TrueNTH Steering Group: https://prostatecanceruk.org/for-health-professionals/our-projects/truenth Where we heard of the progress of the 8 exciting projects exploring men’s survivorship from prostate cancer.

In October I was at the Colne Valley High School in Yorkshire discussing with the senior teachers the challenges of working with boys and young men in the classroom. I was also invited to speak at an Occupational Health Study day talking about men’s mental health in the workplace.

The European Commission study on Gender and Coronary Artery Disease (GenCAD) is coming to completion, with our final conference in Brussels in October and a further presentation at the European Public Health Conference in Stockholm in November. The factsheets for professionals and the lay public are now available and our final report should be with the Commission by December. https://ec.europa.eu/health/social_determinants/projects/ep_funded_projects_en#fragment3
Working with Dr Amanda Seims and a Professor Jacqueline Müller-Nordhorn from the Berlin School of Public Health, we conducted a detailed analysis of the 28 member states policies and guidelines that related to sex and gender equality and cardiovascular disease. Another blog will follow on this work, but more detail can be found on the Leeds Beckett Website:
http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/news/1117-emeritus-professor-contributes-to-project-exploring-gender-in-coronary-artery-disease/

Attending the editorial board of the Trends in Urology and Men’s Health Journal is always a joy. It is a very worthwhile journal, giving high quality articles and news: http://trendsinmenshealth.com

I was invited onto the Evaluation Committee l to determine the first winner of the Sex and Gender Excellence Award from the Berlin Institute of Health in November. It is excellent that such a distinguished academic institution should have such an award and it is more important that they will be following this up with both a Research Fellow and Visiting Professor appointments in the New Year.

Alongside this activity I was in Ireland for a PhD Viva and we have had more papers coming through to publication:

·         Brooks R, Milligan J, White A. STPs: Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists Can Support GPs with New Integrated Models of Rehabilitation and Healthcare. British Journal of General Practice 67 (664): 525-526.

·         Flurey C Hewlett S, Rodham K, White A, Noddings R, Kirwan J (2017) Coping strategies, psychological impact and support preferences of men with rheumatoid arthritis: a multicentre survey. Arthritis Care & Research DOI: 10.1002/acr.23422

·         Bardehle D, Dinges M, White A. What is Men’s Health? A definition. J Men’s health 2017;13:e40–52. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1564077

And many congratulations to Bello Utoblo, who has just successfully completed his PhD: “Men’s recovery from Schizophrenia in Northern Nigeria”!

I am now preparing next year’s work, which will include the State of Women’s Health in Leeds report with Women’s Lives Leeds and the Leeds Public Health team, and my contribution to the WHO Men’s Health report.

So – the Centre may be closed, but this does not mean my work on the health of men and boys has ceased!


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