Book Review
Men's health: the forgotten issue
Unknown
ISBN: 064615957777; 1993; Ausmed Publications Melbourne;
Don Gorman
Associate Professor, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba QLD
This book is a collection of papers that look at a range of men's health issues across the lifespan. The papers were presented at a seminar on Men's Health in Melbourne in November 1993. As these are a col lection of papers the standard of publication is not what you would expect from a book, there are some typographical errors and the format is A4 size with single spacing making it less than easy to read. The referencing style and complexity of the papers also varies. Not withstanding the above, the papers are written by people from a range of backgrounds including general and psychiatric nurses, sociologists and medical practitioners. There is a strong emphasis on social issues, particularly how they relate to the male role in our society, the problems this causes for men's health, and how it affects both their health related behaviour and their response to illness and treatment.
The impact of these issues on a number of topics related to men's health is covered, including: the role of nurses in promoting men's health issues; statistical evidence that identifies men as having a higher incidence of most of the major disorders; the lack of recognition of the relatively higher incidence of many illnesses in men; lack of services specifically for men and the advantages and disadvantages of taking that approach to men's health care; the relationship between male roles and socialization and their mental health status; the relationship between masculinity and adolescent sexuality; the incidence of cancer in men; domestic violence and alcohol abuse; and the role of biological factors in men's health behaviours. The papers identify problems which are not commonly known about and raise many interesting questions for health care services and society in general.
There is likely to be something of value to health care providers and people who are interested in men's health issues or those who are as yet unaware of the growing men's movement in our society.
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