Real Men’s Health is showcasing excellence in men’s health programs through our Men’s Health Program Series.
In each article, we will ask 5 questions of a featured program organiser to gain insight into what they do and their thoughts on men’s health today.
In this article, we speak with Ian Westmoreland, from Kintsugi Heroes.
Q1: Could you please describe your role in the program?
I am the founder and CEO
Q2: Could you please describe what your program does?
We help people tell stories that they need to share so others can discover the story they need to hear. We hope to create a community where people can safely share their life experiences and how they have overcome adversity.
We do this by hosting conversations where our Kintsugi Heroes talk through their challenges such as mental and physical health, personal trauma, and tragic events.
These stories are really inspirational, and our hope is that each story will connect with other people who may be experiencing similar life challenges or know someone who is.
We bring these stories to life through relaxed, down-to-earth chats between hosts and guests, sharing them as video and audio podcasts, radio broadcasts, and even books.
Plus, we spread stories of resilience and community through photo exhibitions, social media, news outlets, and live events that bring people together.
Q3: What are the biggest changes you have observed within the men’s health space over the past 5-years?
I have seen major positive and negative changes:
Positive Changes:
- An increase in the number of organisations seeking to support men.
- Men are increasingly being encouraged to share their emotions and reach out for support.
- In my own world, I’ve noticed an encouraging shift in focus towards preventing issues in men’s mental and physical health through physical exercise, peer support groups, reestablishing the “village”, keeping away from things that can lead to addiction, eating better and getting health checks done. To quote a well-known phrase the ambulance is now being moved to the top of the cliff.
Negative Changes:
- Social media can be a dangerous place, especially for the younger men. There’s more pressure to look a certain way and a great deal of misinformation out there.
- I feel there’s a growing movement of ‘all men are bad’. Which not only demonises men, but it also polarises social attitudes as well.
- We’re also targeted with advertising around things that can become addictive – like gambling, alcohol, social media, pornography.
Q4: If hypothetically, the Government offered you an unrestricted $1M grant tomorrow, what one project would you spend it all on?
A great question and I hope someone reading this will contact me!
We’ve made significant progress with our project, Connecting Seniors. There’s a loneliness epidemic across all age bands including older Australians, who often find it harder to make social connections and may face physical limitations.
I’d like to build on this project and expand it to support people as they approach retirement. The goal is to help them think not only about their financial future but also about how they want to stay socially connected and engaged as they age.
Q5: Do you have a favourite sports team, when & why did you start supporting them?
Melbourne AFL Club. AFL played such a key role in my childhood, and I started I supporting them in the late 50s.
AFL and my dog Lassie were the two loves of my life growing up. I was very shy and lacked confidence and I would wear my Melbourne jumper everywhere I went with number 9 on the back. This was the vice-captain Brian Dixon’s number because I didn’t have the money to buy the two numbers required for 31 Ron Barassi’s number.
Fortunately, I later met Ron at a football clinic where he signalled me out from all the other kids to demonstrate how to tackle.
Thank you for sharing with Real Men’s Health
