By Tanya Steele
Recent studies by Healthy Male, coinciding with Men’s health week from June 12 to 18, have revealed the impact of loneliness on health can be as damaging as smoking, obesity and some cancers, and millions of Australian men are at risk.
High levels of loneliness are least common for men aged 65 years and older, which may come as no surprise to organisations like Badger Creek Men’s Shed.
Secretary Graeme Chester said the Men’s Shed is basically a safe area for them to have fun and get out into the community.
“It’s there to enjoy other men’s company, it’s like the old Australian term mateship,” he said.
“People might do their own work, but it also gets them back out into the community.”
According to a nationally representative survey of 1,282 Australian men, conducted by Healthy Male, 43 per cent of Australian men are lonely.
Healthy Male CEO Simon von Saldern said the survey results added another element to the overall picture of male health in Australia.
“This survey was part of a wider study, and we were really surprised by what we saw — we asked these questions, but we were not expecting such a high level of loneliness,” he said.
The picture is even bleaker in some age groups: one in four (24 per cent) men aged 35-49 have a high level of loneliness, with a rate almost twice as high as in men aged 50-64 years (12.1 per cent), and three times higher than men aged 65 and over (6.0 per cent).
Mr Chester said often after men retire they find it difficult to transition to the change of pace and that the Men’s Shed offers a community for people to work together on projects, shoulder to shoulder.
“If they’re in a group and they’re working over a bench, they’ll just chat, that’s the environment the shed tries to create, the men feel able to talk about the things that might be worrying them,” he said.
Mr Chester said he has also learnt skills, having never had a shed and tools in his own home and has noticed the benefits members get from regular attendance.
“They look forward to coming down and catching up with their mates and telling some lies and having a few jokes,” he said.
President Mario Herodotus said the shed isn’t just about woodworking and that he hopes the younger generation will drive the organisation with them.
“We need to figure out what it is that the newer generation or the younger generation wants from a Men’s Shed. We may not be doing any kind of tools, we may have to do something else. I don’t know what that generation will want, but the flexibility will be there,” he said.
Mr Herodotus said that the friendship and community at Badger Creek Men’s Shed tend to happen by osmosis, so rather than a solution it is an organisation which provides possibilities driven by the attendees.
“The shed offers people a community, a place to go.”
Mr Herodotus said that the modern day lifestyle of most men doesn’t involve being in a screenless environment and before he began at the shed he has no experience with some of the practical knowledge that he has learnt there.
“I had no woodworking or ironworking skills. But once I got there, I learned how to create things. And I am so enjoying that, I love making little gifts for my grandchildren for my wife and for my family,” he said.
Currently, the shed offers woodworking, metalworking and photography sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9.30am to 3.30pm and on Fridays from 10.30am to 12 pm for the photography club, visitors are always welcome to come for a chat.
The results of the recent survey inspired Healthy Male to tackle the issue of loneliness this Men’s Health Week and educate those most highly affected with key tips on what an individual can do to recognise and address loneliness.
You can learn more by visiting healthymale.org.au/mens-health-week-2023.
