London event - November 16 th 2015

1. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men - Issues • Not just ‘older men’s’ issues of course, but issues for all men who grow old • See Older Men’s Health Forum https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/ • ‘The scale of the challenge…’ • Premature death - On average, more than one in five men is still dying between the ages 16 and 65, and more than two in five before the age of 75 – with death rates amongst men in the poorest areas of the country being even worse. • Heart disease and cancer- men more likely to die of both • 75% of premature deaths from coronary heart disease are male. • Men have a 37% higher risk of dying from cancer and a 67% higher chance of dying from cancers that affect both men and women (Excluding breast cancer and those cancers that affect either women only or men only).

2. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men - Issues • Obesity -67% of men are overweight or obese yet only 10-20% of those on NHS weight loss programmes are men. • Diabetes -Middle-aged men are twice as likely to have diabetes as women – and twice as likely not to know they have diabetes. • Suicide - Four in five suicides are by men – suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 35 and there has been a sharp increase in the rate among men aged 35-64. • 12.5% of men in the UK were diagnosed with a mental health disorder • Men are nearly three times more likely than women to become alcohol dependent (8.7% of men are alcohol dependent compared to 3.3% of women)

3. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men - Issues • Lifestyle - Men are more likely than women to: • smoke, smoke more cigarettes per day and smoke hand-rolled tobacco • eat too much salt; too much red and processed meat • eat too little fruit and too few vegetables • drink alcohol and at hazardous levels. Men are twice as likely to have liver disease. • Men are less likely than women to acknowledge illness or to seek help when sick. • Health is often ‘socially constructed as a feminine concern and men therefore have to behave as if they are unconcerned about their health if they wish to publicly sustain a ‘real’ male identity’

4. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men - Issues • Many men appear to legitimise health service usage, only when a perceived threshold of ill health has been exceeded. • Also a tendency amongst men to play down symptoms or to view potentially serious symptoms as simply signs of growing old • Fear surrounding the potential loss of masculinity may result in a façade of control and stoicism, instead of honesty about reporting symptoms and accepting interventions, or openness about feelings and insecurities associated with particular illnesses • Also, Social factors • Traditionally (or just stereotypically/ anecdotally?) men cope less well after separation -or bereavement. ‘Traditional’ older men may have fewer practical/ coping /life skills equipping them for life alone • In the news –far more ‘Silver Separations’ – what might be the impact on men?

5. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men’s Issues – some responses -The Older Man’s Network • http://oldermenswellbeing.co.uk/ • Designed to give as much information and support as possible to individuals and organisations that want to make a difference to older men’s health and wellbeing. • Developed from the national ‘Fit as a Fiddle’ project funded through Age UK and Lottery Fund • The Network works across 3 main themes: • Physical Activity • Healthy Eating • Mental Wellbeing

6. London event - November 16th 2015 The Older Man’s Network • http://oldermenswellbeing.co.uk/ • Lot of resources and ideas -couple of light hearted ideas: • Walking Football – • a bit like 5 a side football but if you run – heaven forbid – it’s a free kick to your opponents. • Described as a great way to start to move around again, to have a kick about, to make friends, to have fun while playing. • ‘Slimmin Wi No Women’ • A way for men to start to lose weight and exercise together. The classes address lots of issues that men find difficult such as healthy eating, daily exercise and making new friends. • A strong social side which enables the men to bond , make friends and support each other when the going gets tough.

7. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men’s Issues – some responses – ‘Men’s Sheds’ • Roots in Australia in 1990’s -in Australian culture, little encouragement for men of all ages to socialize and discuss their feelings and wellbeing. Also roots in the original 19th century idea of Working Men's Club's in the UK and Australia: "to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families". • UK Men’s Sheds Association http://menssheds.org.uk/ • ‘A Men’s Shed is a larger version of the typical man’s shed in the garden – a place where he feels at home and pursues practical interests with a high degree of autonomy. A Men’s Shed offers this to a group of such men where members share the tools and resources they need to work on projects of their own choosing at their own pace and in a safe, friendly and inclusive venue. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning, of individual pursuits and community projects, of purpose, achievement and social interaction. A place of leisure where men come together to work.’ • In UK; 226 Sheds open, 86 in development, 4,300 members

8. London event - November 16th 2015 ‘Men’s Sheds’

9. London event - November 16th 2015 ‘Men’s Sheds’

10. London event - November 16th 2015 ‘Men’s Sheds’ • ‘A Shed’s activities usually involve • making or mending in wood (e.g. carpentry, joinery, turning, carving, whittling, marquetry, furniture renovation) but may include metalworking (milling, sheet metal, welding, etc.) • bike repair, gardening, electronics, tool renovation, boat renovation, model engineering (model railways, planes) and even building a car! • Reclamation, reuse and restoration will feature strongly – and some say that is true of the men too! • Although Sheds mostly attract older men, some have included men of any age, women and young people. • Whichever activities are pursued the essence of a Shed is not a building, which some don’t have, but the network of relationships between the members. • ‘ It gives me a reason to get up in the morning and for two days a week I feel I’m gainfully employed. I really feel good working with and helping chaps who often feel isolated in the community. I would need a very good reason not to come.’

11. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men’s Issues –Innisfree Allotments Project • Innisfree HA - http://www.innisfree.org.uk/about-us/overview/ • Grew from a small group of individuals who were driven to do something about the poor health and housing conditions of the local Irish community in Brent.. • It now owns over 500 homes, mainly in North & West London- catering for family homes, a very successful scheme for Irish Elders and supported housing for vulnerable single people. • Over 60% of tenants are Irish. • Innisfree Allotments project - shortlisted entry for erosh Awards 2014

12. London event - November 16th 2015 Innisfree Allotments Project • A disused allotment site was taken over from Brent Council -cultivated and divided into 12 raised bed plots. • Older Irish tenants of Innisfree spend their spare time working with others growing things. This project benefits a particularly challenging, often isolated client group who may not traditionally ‘get involved’. • Reduced isolation/loneliness among older men, linking many back with family and personal history and memories of working on the land in Ireland • Volunteers cleared the site, offered advice and help to build raised beds and suggested what could grow well. New volunteers living in temporary housing had the opportunity to use spare time productively by using the soil to grow things • Healthy eating dimension as well as the more obvious benefits of exercise and improving physical health.

13. London event - November 16th 2015 Innisfree Allotments Project • Many of tenants live on low incomes- growing their own food helps with a limited budget • People work at their own pace -some relapse back to depression or drinking, but the new community visit and report their concerns back to Innisfree earlier than we would have expected before.. • Older men like to working in isolation and may ignore their change in health. This project brings men together in an informal setting where they can discuss matters of concern when they wish to a trusted person. • Irish Government funding has helped rent the site and purchase the tools and shed (under its world wide Emigrant Support Programme to support the diaspora of mass emigration from Ireland since the 1950’s onwards) • Focus on many older Irish men who came to post war London to work on major construction projects

14. London event - November 16th 2015 Innisfree Allotments Project • Donation of soil, old scaffold boards for raised beds and a shed, wood chip for walkways, shared plants and materials. Innisfree purchased a cultivator and offered instruction on safe handling and work wear etc. • Went on to grow potatoes, radishes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, carrot, parsnips, marrow, courgettes, brussel sprouts, beans, peas, raspberries, gooseberries, apples, pears and a rare Medlar fruit tree • Older Irish people now feel they belong to a small community. They learn about growing, grow new things and meet people from other diverse communities with a common goal – to grow their own food. • ‘An allotment changes lives. You will always find things to do, even when you’re having a bad day’. We meet new people who are growing different things, which they learned to grow in their own country. The stranger has become a friend bonded by the growing seasons and care for each other’

15. London event - November 16th 2015 Older Men - Issues