Welcome to the Men’s Health CEO Series, where we engage with CEO’s who either lead a men’s health organisation or have facilitated men’s health initiatives within their institutions.
In this series, 5 questions are asked of executive leaders to gain insight into their respective organisations and their observations on men’s health today.
In this feature article, we speak with Simon von Saldern, CEO of Healthy Male.
Q1: Could you please describe your organisation?
Healthy Male is a national organisation that helps men and boys lead healthier lives by providing evidence-based, easy-to-understand information on men’s health topics. Our aim is to make information available to everybody, regardless of gender, age, education, sexual orientation, religion, or ethnicity.
Supported by the Australian Government Department of Health, Healthy Male collaborates with Australia’s leading scientific and medical researchers to fill the gaps between preventive health, health promotion and education needs as part of the National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030.
Everything Healthy Male does is designed to inform, engage, and create better lives for men and boys.
Healthy Male is a trusted source of information, and we pride ourselves as an active facilitator of action on men’s health through key campaigns and initiatives, including:
- A website with comprehensive resources and tools for both general access and health professionals.
- An eLearning for health professionals.
- Health promotion campaigns and programs including Men’s Health Week; Spanner in the Works?, Plus Paternal, and more.
- Participation in a range of men’s health events and health conferences.
As part of our mission, Healthy Male collaborates with various communities, health professionals, researchers, peak bodies, partner agencies and government to achieve their vision. We do this through building a strong, viable, resilient organisation that demonstrates value for Australian men.
As advocates for men’s health issues and priorities, we aim to influence policy and practice, and act as the voice of men and boys from all walks of life. Healthy Male empowers men and boys through education and information that will support and encourage them to act on their health.
Q2: Within your present CEO tenure, could share some organisational highlights?
I have been, and am, fortunate to work with an amazing array of colleagues and partners in my time at Healthy Male, all of them adding to what we have been able to achieve.
Our origin, in 2000, was as Andrology Australia specialising in men’s reproductive and sexual health (andrology is to men what gynaecology is to women), as there was a massive gap in the health information provided to men.
It was clear, after I started in September 2017, that a more holistic view of health was required, while maintaining our expertise in sexual and reproductive health. So, we needed to transform from being Andrology Australia and a part of Monash University to Healthy Male, and a for-purpose organisation in our own right, which we did in April 2019. From there the scope and coverage of Healthy Male has grown to take a more holistic view of men and health.
Another highlight was being asked to be the lead organisation in the creation of the National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030 for the Australian Government. Being trusted with the role of bringing together the vast knowledge of the sector to create a strategic direction for men’s health in Australia was a significant moment of recognition for Healthy Male.
The creation of Plus Paternal: a focus on fathers has also been a highlight for the organisation. The project was born from our work on the National Men’s Health Strategy and the lack of attention fathers were being paid. Now the Plus Paternal Network continues to focus on fathers and advocating for inclusion and change in the health system.
Healthy Male’s work in advocating for men’s health has seen us drive the formation of the Parliamentary Friends of Men’s Health in Canberra. This parliamentary group has given a focal point for men’s health organisations when advocating in Canberra.
Our work in providing health education to health professionals in nursing, general practice or specialties such as urology and endocrinology is also a highlight as we have given some of Australia’s leading health practitioners a forum to share their knowledge.
And of course, our focus on providing evidence-based information in a style that the majority of men can understand, and that resonates with them, has been something that we have specifically targeted and continue to do through our website, Insta reels, Tik Tok channel, YouTube channel etc.
Q3: Over the next 5-years, where do you see the growth opportunities for men’s health organisations?
Access to evidence-based information is becoming increasingly important with the influx of influencers and websites providing health information based on myths and a desire to sell products. Therefore, utilising social and digital media and harnessing AI to combat the prevalence of misinformation is paramount to ensuring that every generation of Australian males has the opportunity to obtain health information based on their needs and not those of the ‘information’ provider.
AI potentially will provide the ability to have the most up to date, evidence based, audience focused health information available and accessible to a much broader audience of males in the voice that they require. It has the potential to bridge many of the health information gaps that currently exist for culturally and socially diverse audiences for example.
Q4: If hypothetically, the Government offered your organisation an unrestricted $5M grant tomorrow, and you had executive control over its allocation- what one project would you spend it all on?
This really is a ‘which is your favourite child’ question. However, as there is so much that we still need to do in men’s health there is also no incorrect answer.
If the grant was made available to us today, we would co design a preventive health information promotion package for boys and young men available via an integrated social and digital media program incorporating a physical (face to face) program.
The program would cover sexual and reproductive health, healthy relationships and self-care. Most importantly it would be designed in conjunction with boys and young men and be available where they are e.g. social media and presented by their peers and people who they respect.
Generational change is imperative if we are to succeed in improving the health and wellbeing of boys, men and their families.
Q5: Lastly, do you have a favourite sports team, when & why did you start supporting them?
My favourite sporting team is the Richmond Football Club (AFL) who I have supported since I moved to Victoria as a seven-year-old.
My reason for supporting them probably says a bit about the way I tick. I’d only been at my new primary school for a few weeks when someone asked me, as a part of their school assignment on drawing graphs, who I barracked for in the football. Being in a Carlton zone everyone barracked for Carlton (thus my pathological dislike of them) so I chose one of the ones who had no names next to them – and I’ve been on the rollercoaster ever since.
Thank you for sharing with Real Men’s Health
