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Perhaps one of the most famous healthcare campaigns across the UK, Movember is back for another year. Since 2003, the charity has funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects around the world, transforming the way health services reach and support men.
Every year, the focus is on three main topics:
- Prostate cancer
- Mental health and suicide prevention
- Testicular cancer.
“Men’s health is in crisis,” the charity says. “Men are dying on average five years earlier than women, and for largely preventable reasons.”
Indeed, around 10.8 million men across the world are facing life with a prostate cancer diagnosis, whilst testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men. Additionally, across the world one man dies by suicide every minute of every day, with men accounting for 69 per cent of all suicides.
Movember aims to bring awareness to these statistics, changing the conversation surrounding men’s health and funding projects across the world. This year, pharmacy teams can get involved in a multitude of ways.
Grow or move
Throughout November, the charity is asking people to organise sponsorship to grow a moustache. The moustaches serve as the perfect conversation starter to raise awareness in all walks of life as well as a great opportunity to generate more donations to go towards the charity’s many projects.
The pharmacy team could nominate a member to take part and raise money in the community or advertise the initiative throughout the store. For more information, as well as moustache growing guides, ‘mo’ rules and sponsorship advice visit the Movember website.
If growing a moustache is not your thing, the charity also run a campaign encouraging people to run or walk 60km over the month. That’s 60km for the 60 men lost to suicide each hour, every hour across the world.
Not only is this a fabulous charity initiative but it’s also an opportunity to promote general healthy living within the pharmacy. Regular exercise is key to a healthy lifestyle and what better way for customers to kickstart this routine.
Any exercise is accepted but the charity has two groups for people to get involved with, Mo Running & Movember Cycling Club. Visit the Movember website for more.
“Across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day”
Self Care Week: 14-20 November
Self Care Week focuses on embedding support for self care across communities, families and generations. The Self Care Forum has run the event annually since 2011, the theme for this year is exercise self care for life.
Pharmacy teams can communicate a range of health messages throughout the week including:
- Taking vitamin D supplements
- Good nutrition and regular exercise to support general wellbeing and help maximise immunity
- Adopting positive lifestyle choices
- Increasing health literacy levels in the community
- Supporting mental wellness by keeping connected, ensuring a sense of perspective, and taking further steps to maintain understanding of how to manage minor and long term health conditions
- Highlighting the need for vaccinations and screening.
The week is also used to promote better use of the NHS by signposting people to the right service relevant to their health needs, in particular to pharmacies for accessible health care and advice.
Staff can advertise Self Care Week within the store using a range of resources including the charities eight point plan which can be accessed via the website.
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