It’s almost that time of year again: “Movember,” an entire month when men worldwide put razors away and grow beards and moustaches to raise awareness about testicular and prostate cancer and such men’s health issues as depression.
(Photo, inset right) GROW A BEARD OR MOUSTACHE THIS 'MOVEMBER': Men urged to grow facial hair for 30 days to raise awareness for men's health issues. Photo: Movember
The UMHS Endeavour looks at what you can do this year to shed light on these important issues.
Official Rules of Movember
The Movember website states the official rules:
- Movember official rules state that all Mo Bros (male participants), once registered at Movember.com, “must begin clean-shaven on the 1st of November (no beards, no goatees) for the 30 days of November.”
- So, gather your friends, family and colleagues together at your workplace, favorite barbershop, school, community center or local hang out and get those faces shaved down and signed up to grow.
- Host a Shave the Date: Movember 1st kickoff party at your office.
- Don’t forget to encourage people to donate to your hairy efforts to change the face of men’s health. Fundraise $25 by October 25 and you qualify to win a limited edition Movember X Harry’s Truman Razor.
Movember’s Roots
Movember is a global movement that started a decade ago in a Melbourne, Australia pub and is now celebrated by groups in the United States, Canada and elsewhere.
MOVEMBER HELPS FUND THESE AREAS: Everything from prostate cancer detection to critical issues about testicular cancer. Photo: Movember.org
Movember’s Men’s Health Issues
The Movember Foundation focuses on three main men’s health issues: testicular cancer, prostate cancer and depression. Movember statistics show 12.1% of men age 18 and over are in poor health.
They cite the following reasons:
- Lack of awareness and understanding of the health issues men face
- Men not openly discussing their health and how they’re feeling
- Reluctance to take action when men don’t feel physically or mentally well
- Men engaging in risky activities that threaten their health
- Stigmas surrounding mental health
- Men are 24 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year.
Goals of the Movember Foundation include:
- Reduced mortality from prostate, testicular cancer and men’s suicide
- Men living with prostate or testicular cancer being physically and mentally well
- Men and boys understanding how to be mentally healthy and taking action when they experience mental health problems
- Men and boys with mental health problems not being discriminated against
(Top image) Image: Courtesy of Movember
About UMHS:
Built in the tradition of the best US universities, the University of Medicine and Health Sciencesfocuses on individual student attention, maintaining small class sizes and recruiting high-quality faculty. We call this unique approach, “personalized medical education,” and it’s what has led to our unprecedented 96% student retention rate, and outstanding residency placements across the US and Canada. UMHS is challenging everything you thought you knew about Caribbean medical schools.
What is Movember? Video from Movember Foundation
Scott is Director of Digital Content & Alumni Communications Liaison at UMHS and editor of the UMHS Endeavour blog. When he's not writing about UMHS students, faculty, events, public health, alumni and UMHS research, he writes and edits Broadway theater reviews for a website he publishes in New York City, StageZine.com.
