Men's Health - GPs on Curzon

All our GPs are aware that Men are less likely to seek proactive preventative health care compared to women. Almost one in four males hasn’t seen a doctor in the last 12 months (compared with one in 10 females). So, we welcome men at anytime coming in for a check-up and preventative health.

Our GPs incorporate a preventive approach into the consultation, aiming to understand the whole person in his context. Developing a relationship based on trust and shared decision-making will help to enhance a man’s sense of self-control.

To achieve this understanding involves assessing five components of your world:

Present and potential disease
Your experience of health and illness
Your goals and potential for health
You as a person and in the context of your world
The patient–doctor relationship

Over time and over a few consultations, the processes of establishing common goals, exploring alternative ways of looking at current practices, and finding and trying new ways of fulfilling personal values, needs, motives and expectations will help men to become more aware of their health, and to be able to play an active role in reducing their risk of disease.

Thus, the first task is to proactively identify and assess health problems and their risk factors in the context of the whole person.

Men’s Health Problems

Reproductive and sexual health problems in men are relatively common and are a focus, especially in those over the age of 40. They include:

Preconception health
Bowel Cancer
Sexually transmitted infections (STI’s)
Benign prostatic hypertrophy, affecting 20% of men aged 40–49 years and 40%–50% of those aged over 65 years.
Prostate health
Erectile dysfunction, affecting 20% of 40–64-year-olds, increasing to 43% in those aged 65 years or over.
Male hormone disorders (including androgen deficiency), which occur in about one in 200 adult men.

Further, from these health concerns – Men are at highest risk of cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, some cancers, suicide and transport-related injury. All these areas can be reviewed and managed by all our doctors at GPs on Curzon.

Sources:

Healthdirect.gov.au. 2021. Men’s health. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mens-health> [Accessed 6 March 2022].

Britt, H., Valenti, L. and Bayram, C., 2016. General practice encounters with men. [online] Australian Family Physician. Available at: <https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2016/april/general-practice-encounters-with-men> [Accessed 6 March 2022].