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Welcome to Pit Stop: A mechanical health package for men

How can you get blokes to take an interest in preventive health?

This mechanical health package for Men is an adaptable, flexible package that goes some way down the road to engaging men in changing their health behavior and having fun whilst they do.

Enter this site with some imagination, have a sense of humor and entertain yourself and the participants.

Pit Stop Program
The Pit Stop program was developed as a men’s public health program, by the Gascoyne Public Health Unit in response to the declining health of men in Australian society.

As men regularly take an interest in their cars, and the ongoing maintenance of them, the idea behind Pit Stop is to attach this concept of regular mechanical tune-ups to their own health.

It is run as a series of stations, each involving a quick, simple health check. The environment of the Pit Stop stations is non-medical, and therefore a comfortable and fun setting that allows participants to overcome any apprehension that they may have about going to a doctor, or presenting with a specific problem.

A Focus on Men’s Health
Did you know?

• Men have been described as the sickest group in society after Aboriginal people.
• Each hour, five men die from conditions that are potentially preventable.
• Men live on average six years less than women.
• In Australia in 2006 more than 48,000 men succumbed to diseases that may have been prevented by a trip to the doctor.
• Men’s health status is complicated by the fact that men are more likely than women to shy away from medical treatment of any kind.  

Pit Stop – Men’s Health Package - Analogy
Men take an interest in maintaining their vehicles, with regular tune-ups, oil changes and lubes. Why doesn’t their body rate the same attention? What is it about health that makes it an uncomfortable process for men? As Richard Fletcher (Newcastle University) put it: “Men go to doctors with a garage mentality, they want to leave their body and pick it up when it’s fixed”.

• Masculine concept is attached to a series of mobile men’s health screening tests.
• Mechanical concepts provide a comfortable and masculine backdrop while introducing an element of humour.
• Reduces Men don’t have to present with a problem. They can join the challenge of “passing the pits” and may choose to discuss a health issue  if they fail a test.
• Locations for screenings are non-medical settings, removing the illness concept.
• Mobile campaign so can be taken to where men are.