Hearing from men in Oxfordshire

Healthwatch Oxfordshire wants to make sure men’s voices and experiences help shape how health and care services are delivered in Oxfordshire.

Between December 2023 and November 2024, Healthwatch Oxfordshire held short, meaningful conversations with 167 men across the county to understand:

• What helps men to be healthy and well
• What makes this hard
• What their experiences of using health and care services is like
• Men’s ideas for what would make a difference to support men to be healthy and well.

Healthwatch Oxfordshire had conversations with men in Witney in December 2023 and Didcot in November 2024, as well as at events and men’s groups across Oxfordshire and throughout the year, in support of the Oxfordshire Men’s Health Partnership’s 30 Chats in 30 Days initiative.

Key findings

Things that help men to be healthy and well include: 

• Trying to live a healthy lifestyle by eating well and being active
• Family, friends and community – for example enjoying spending time with others and being able to share problems and feelings
• Seeking help from professionals
• Religion, faith and spirituality
• Relaxation and ‘time for me’. 

Things that make it hard for men to be healthy and well include: 

• A lack of time – due to work and other pressures to focus on health – for example, eating well, relaxing, being active or attending medical appointments
• Work pressures, worries about money and the cost of living
• Stigma and stereotypes around seeking help
• Barriers and challenges around healthcare, including finding it hard to make GP appointments. 

Ideas that men shared for what would make a difference to support them to be healthy and well, included: 

• Information and support to adopt a healthier lifestyle
• More men’s support groups and raising awareness about existing groups
• Shared activity groups such as chess, walking or football to help men to socialise and get active
• Improving access to affordable physical activity and healthy food – and linking people up to what is already there
• Improving access to healthcare and health checks – for example by embedding them in workplaces.

Healthwatch Oxfordshire has shared this report with key health and care services, commissioners and decision-makers to help inform services and guide work to proactively support men.