Men’s health and well-being

Abstract

Men’s health and well-being is a recent arrival on the international public policy and health scene, following in the wake of the women’s health movement and the emergence of policy-making related to gender equity. To date, policy and research into men’s health have proceeded on the basis that the object of their discussions and inquiries is self-evident: populations comprise males and females. Corresponding with this division are two differentiated arenas of health and health service experience that are specific to each sex: women’s health and men’s health. This chapter proposes, however, that this common-sense understanding is limited as a foundation for understanding the health and well-being of men. It oversimplifies and misrepresents the issues involved.