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Often, it's the woman in a man's life who drives his health care, said Herald, a nurse consultant for Kentucky's Department of Public Health. His wife prods him to get a checkup or health screening. She tells him she doesn't want to grow old without him. That intervention is important in promoting men's health awareness. Herald also believes health care practitioners need to tailor the message to appeal to men's goal-oriented nature.

"Women are much better at taking general health information than men are," Herald said. "Maybe it's a chemical imbalance in our brains. We have that immortality complex. We think we're going to live forever and, when we get sick, then we tend to hold a grudge."

Men are less likely to respond to the general health education that says a healthy diet helps control diabetes. Instead, a man will respond to the information that losing 20 pounds will help control his diabetes. Give him that information, Herald said, then help him set a reasonable time frame to lose those pounds.

Many men won't seek out health information. They don't ask as many questions as women patients, and they don't take advantage of hospital education resources, said Bob Lumpkins, MS, RN, vice president of patient care services at Harris Methodist H.E.B. hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.

A seeming lack of inquisitiveness about a diagnosis could signal that a man is in denial, Lumpkins said. Nurses need to be on the lookout for any patient who seems to struggle with accepting a health problem. In those cases, he said, the nurse has to take the initiative in putting out the needed information.

Male models

In the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, more than 90 percent of the patients are men, said Pat Quigley, Ph.D., ARNP, director of patient safety in the Tampa, Fla., center of the Veterans Integrated Services Network. The VA health care system also attracts more male nurses from the pool of military medics and health care professionals. This connection to military life creates a bond that motivates men to take care of themselves, said Quigley, president of the Florida Nurses Association.

The department also trains patients with chronic illness to work in education programs for others with the same conditions, and leads support groups and provides patient education. The men trust each other and feel comfortable with the interactions, she said. This is a model other hospitals and clinics should look into, Quigley said.

Swartzberg advocates addressing men's health issues outside the hospital setting and reaching men at an earlier age. Health education needs to find young men where they're likely to see it, such as Web sites and magazines. The message needs to fit their concerns.

Tell young men they will look better and have more energy, Swartzberg said, and emphasize the positive rather than the negative things that could happen to them.

The men's health crisis needs attention on multiple levels, he said: The food industry needs to provide more healthy diet information, and the film industry needs to stop depicting smoking on the silver screen. About 70 percent of health problems are preventable with healthy living, he said.

"None of this is rocket science," Swartzberg said.

Contact Donna Hemmila at dhemmila@prodigy.net

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