2023 ANNUAL REPORT
Conversation, connection, community
In the past year, we have addressed more health conditions, and broadened our clinical health topic coverage, to ensure health practitioners are kept up to date with important developments in male health in Australia.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a prime example of this. BDD is a mental illness that’s characterised by persistent and intrusive preoccupation with a part of the body, whether that’s facial features, body hair, skin complexion, hair loss, penis size or musculature. It affects one in 50 people, and despite public perception of body image issues predominantly impacting women, BDD is just as common in males as in females.
To address this, we have developed several new resources to help health professionals learn more about BDD, and help those affected.
Here are some of our highlights from the past year.
Healthy Male offers a range of clinical summary guides on the management of male reproductive and sexual health to help health professionals care for male patients.
Our clinical summary guides are systematically developed with the best available scientific evidence, to assist health professionals in making clinical decisions about appropriate health care. They translate evidence into actionable recommendations and feature an educational video to expand on the information covered.
Our newest clinical summary guide on body dysmorphic disorder was developed to help GPs identify the condition in patients, organise referrals to psychologists or other medical specialists and assist patients to understand and manage the disorder.
Health conditions that impact men and boys can also affect their partners. Because of this, we developed evidence-based guides to help the partners, family and friends of men suffering from common health conditions. They cover causes, impact and treatment options, and help make talking with each other, and their health professional, easier.
This year, we added body dysmorphic disorder to our Partners’ Guide collection. This guide is particularly critical as people with BDD often might not even realise they have a problem, so if it’s not raised with them, they’re unlikely to get help.
We regularly review and summarise research articles published in scientific and medical journals that are relevant to the growing evidence base in male health.
Our research reviews are for anyone with a professional or personal interest in male health, and cover a range of topics, including prostate disease, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, male infertility, androgen deficiency, and erectile dysfunction, as well as other emerging areas relevant to the health and wellbeing of Australian men and boys.
This year, we have published the following research reviews:
Our expertise and evidence-based approach to providing information creates opportunities to join forces with other male health organisations for important projects.
This year, our research projects have included:
We have also contributed to two important academic publications in the past 12 months:
This study addresses an important gap in research on the aetiology of male infertility and will provide a comprehensive profile of the lifestyle and environmental risk factors for male infertility, leading to provision of up-to-date health advice for male teenagers and adults about optimising their fertility
The aim of this article is to provide a broad understanding of the options available for surgical management of male infertility to assist couples in navigating their treatment journey
Healthy Male acknowledges the traditional owners of the land. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. We are committed to providing respectful, inclusive services and work environments where all individuals feel accepted, safe, affirmed and celebrated.
