Community
19 June, 2024
Important conversations
MENS health was front and centre at the Timboon and District Healthcare Service Men’s Health Night last week.
After a long break due to COVID, the Beach Energy sponsored event saw 85 men in attendance.
Guest speakers included Ben Cunnington, Dr Michael Moon and Bridget Hille, with Peter Conheady hosting the event.
Former AFL player and testicular cancer survivor Ben Cunnington was the first guest speaker and he spoke about life as an AFL player and his AFL career and he also gave a raw and candid insight into his journey battling and overcoming testicular cancer.
The audience were given opportunities to ask questions throughout the night, asking personal and AFL related questions which Mr Cunnington interacted with and answered personally and in depth.
Prostate cancer specialist nurse Bridget Hille gave an overview on prostate health, the importance of getting a PSA test and highlighted interesting statistics of the prevalence of prostate cancer in the Corangamite Shire.
The final speaker of the night was Dr Michael Moon.
Dr Moon is a GP, who originally trained in the UK and has been living and working in Victoria for five years.
He works mostly in Melbourne but enjoys delivering care rurally in Victoria every couple of months through RWAV (Rural Workforce Agency Victoria).
Dr Moon spoke on how men could get the most out of their local GP appointment, what their GP wants to achieve when seeing them and that prevention is better than cure.
The aim of running the night encompassed bringing men together to learn about men’s health issues, to improve mental health and wellbeing, and to provide an opportunity for men who are often socially isolated in a rural region to come together and socialise.
Attendees were asked to complete a questionnaire at the conclusion of the night which will help inform how TDHS plans future events and what topics are important when portraying health messages to the community members.
Spot prizes were given away at the conclusion of the night donated by local businesses around Timboon and Port Campbell
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