HealthUnlocked survey reveals that more than 50% of men have hidden a medical condition from a loved one

Men's Health Forum starts a HealthUnlocked community: a safe space to share health experiences.

HealthUnlocked, the social network for health today known as the ‘LinkedIn for health’, announces a partnership with Men’s Health Forum. HealthUnlocked allows people with health concerns to get answers in one place as well as give and receive support and connect with people with the same concerns as them.

The new Men’s Health Community is being set up to address all aspects of men’s health including physical, mental and sexual.

The key finding of HU’s June health survey in honour of Men’s Health Week is that men are less likely to visit the doctor when they feel ill. The HU survey of over 5,000 people has revealed that a staggering 58% of the men surveyed have hidden a medical condition from their friends and family. Another prevalent finding is that most men prefer to get advice from an online source if they have a sexual health problem. This highlights a desperate need for a reliable online resource for men to receive private, accurate and potentially anonymous advice.

“We are passionate about helping people – men and women alike. We want to enable them to connect with health organisations and with individuals that have the same medical concerns,” commented Jorge Armanet, CEO. “We know that of our 300,000 registered users, men are the ones that use HealthUnlocked secretively ­- maybe because they won’t admit to having a health problem, or maybe because they just want the facts from peers at a time to suit them without having to visit a doctor.”

"One in five men dies before the age of 65 - and we are looking forward to work with HealthUnlocked to change that" comments Martin Tod CEO of Men’s Health Forum "We’ve been working for years to make sure men can access relevant and useful information about health - and strongly believe in unlocking the power of peer support to help men tackle issues they might otherwise ignore. HealthUnlocked is a great tool that can support this cause and Men's Health Forum is delighted to be working with them."

HealthUnlocked is a safe, online resource offering a peer­-to-­peer support network, allowing patients, caregivers and health advocates to connect safely online with guidance from credible organisations and institutions.

With these kinds of results, it is clear that although the UK provides one of the most comprehensive medical services in the world ­ and whilst HealthUnlocked would never advise against seeking medical help ­ when it comes to discussing diagnosed medical conditions men would prefer to speak to an online, and potentially anonymous source to garner vital advice.

Paul Nuki, Chief Editor at NHS Choices said, “HealthUnlocked is a fantastic platform, offering many benefits to healthcare as a whole. We often refer NHS Choices users to HealthUnlocked forums, fully confident they will receive first class peer­to­peer advice. It’s all about expert patients sharing their knowledge and, in turn, creating a new generation of experts. HealthUnlocked creates real efficiencies for the health service as a whole because we know that better informed patients make better choices and achieve better outcomes”.

Key findings of the HealthUnlocked survey include:

52% of men surveyed would reach out to an online source for advice first if they had a sexual health issue.

68.5% of men surveyed have an ongoing medical condition

From those, over a third admitted to having visited a medical professional 5 times or less in the last 12 months

58% of men surveyed have hidden a medical condition from their friends and family

64.5% of those asked considered themselves to be in good or average physical health

59% of those asked considered themselves to be in good to very good mental health

Visit and join the brand new Men community here: https://healthunlocked.com/menshealth


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About HealthUnlocked

HealthUnlocked is a web platform and mobile application, which allows users to join moderated online health communities in which they can: Gain access to useful information and relevant services, Seek advice, support and mentorship from people like them, Be empowered to make better healthcare decisions, Help advance medical research and understanding. Key Facts and Figures: Launched in 2012 in London, >300,000 Members spread across the globe, >600 communities generating more than 3.5m visits a month, 70% of our members want to take part in research, HealthUnlocked’s platform is used as a clinical tool in 75 hospitals in the UK. Connecting with other people in one of the many online communities helps users to better manage their health by gaining access to relevant health information, trusted advice and peer support. All communities are moderated by experts and cover a huge variety of health topics from cancer to running and everything in between. HealthUnlocked provides valuable services to patient organisations, care providers, payers, pharmaceutical companies and research organisations, which are designed to enhance care delivery, reduce utilisation of healthcare resource and provide unique access to real world patient insight and information. Watch the video: http://bit.ly/1VKSa9q