‘It can take a bag of donuts’ - normalising talk about men’s health

Hot rod cars, gummy snakes and cinnamon donuts aren’t typical tools of the trade for a health professional. But they’ve been highly effective for the work of WITT campus nurse Liesl de Bruin, lead organiser of Men’s Health Day this Wednesday.

Liesl, part of the Te Puna Manaaki team providing extensive health services, wants to encourage men to feel comfortable talking about their health and their bodies.

She’s learned as a health professional in tertiary education that it’s not easy for many men to do so. That’s why this Wednesday (sponsored by Te Whatu Ora mental health funding) involves fun stuff – gleaming, revving hot rods, a BBQ, and music along with health checks and assessments for diabetes, blood pressure, heart, and Hepatitis C. There will also be a car crash simulator for a virtual/visceral experience.

“The aim of the day is getting men to engage with health services and being able to recognise when they need to ask for help and advice. We want them to know what to look out for. What is normal, what’s not normal, and where they can go for help,” says Liesl.

 Breaking down barriers must happen first; Liesl’s approach is to start with a light-hearted, humorous gimmick as a bridge to discussing serious health concerns. That’s where sweet treats come in handy. Her awareness campaign last year on testicular cancer involved handing out plastic bags containing two mini cinnamon donuts to represent testicles, with an information card on how to do a self-check and identify symptoms. She did the same around breast cancer awareness with a bag of two Mallow Puffs and health information.

“The smell of donuts and the cheekiness of ‘two testicles’ in a bag drew in the crowds,” she says. “It was very interesting that not a single ākonga just took the donuts without wanting to know the message behind it. We particularly targeted young males as they are the population most likely to develop testicular cancer.”

Healthy humour

For many, it’s the first time they’ve interacted with health services. She says some students have had bad experiences with the health system and turn up at the WITT clinic with problems they haven’t had looked at for 30 years.

“That’s why we do ‘softly, softly’ first - we introduce ourselves [at the start of the year], we do all sorts of health promotions regularly – including random things like hand out sperm (gummy snakes) for awareness around STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and testicles (mini donuts).  Just to put our faces out there and say ‘look, we’re also just humans’. You can tell us anything.”

“Humour is a great way to break down boundaries,” she says. “It works fantastically."

“I’m very much into calling a spade a spade…if we’re going to talk about penises, we’ll talk about penises. Yes, we’ll have a joke about it – then we’ll get over it and get onto why we need to talk about it. So that next time they come to see me we can cut to the chase and talk about what we need to.”

Liesl does wellness presentations at the start of Semester One to all classes across the campus. She hopes having a Men’s Health Day at the start of the year will prompt men (ākonga and kaimahi) to make more use of campus health services during the year.

Campus Chaplain, Chris Lee, supports Liesl on these health campaigns and information sessions. “Men tend to minimise, ignore or put things off – often until it’s too late,” Chris says. “Men’s Health Day is focussing on self-awareness and self-care because these are vital for healthy, productive lives. Men are not bullet-proof. We might think we are, but we’re not.”

One young student told Liesl his girlfriend noticed a lump (abnormality) the year before and told him to go to the doctor, but he resisted. “But with the donuts he decided to get checked and found out it was testicular cancer,” she says.

“We want to educate the community as well,” Liesl adds. “If we get these messages to our students (about the importance of health checks, tests, and screening) they can go home and tell their dad, or brother or uncle. Some of our young people are going to be community leaders and influencers, so wouldn’t it be great if they can be armed with the correct information to share with their wider communities?”

“It’s about the normalisation of talking about health that’s so crucial. It’s only weird when you don’t talk about it.”

Event: Men’s Health Day - Wednesday 26 March from 12pm to 1pm.

Location: Outdoors at M and N Blocks between gym and workshop

Caption: Campus chaplain Chris Lee and campus nurse Liesl de Bruin