The health of men in America is steadily deteriorating, largely due to poor health education, lack of awareness and culturally induced behavior patterns. This has caused a silent health crisis, whereby men face higher mortality rates than women for the 10 leading causes of death in addition to a shorter life span.

Men's health is not only a concern for men, but it is also a concern for women who care about the health of their fathers, husbands, sons and brothers. Additionally, men's health is an issue for employers who lose productive employees and pay the costs of their medical care, as well as for society, which absorbs the enormous costs of premature death and disability.

A health screening or awareness event is the first step in helping men become more aware and involved in achieving and maintaining good health. Screenings provide a friendly and informative atmosphere and can easily be worked into anyone's hectic schedule. Depending on your budget, you can start with a small men's health screening targeting one or two specific health areas, or you can develop a complete health fair, focusing on a multitude of men's health areas.

This Digital Training Manual is meant to serve as a guide so you can plan, conduct and evaluate your own health screening event, no matter what size. This guide details the various steps of the health screening process and provides a card from which you can order educational materials for distribution.

You might want to consider hosting your men's health event during National Men's Health Week (NMHW). Passed by Congress in 1994 and signed into law by President Clinton, NMHW is celebrated each year during the week leading up to and including Father's Day in June. Contact the Men's Health Network for help with planning your health screening event. We can help you get media attention and will post your event on our website's calendar of events.

If you do not wish to do a screening event but do want to raise awareness of men's health needs, contact us for tips on exhibiting at a health fair or setting up an information table at a concert, sporting event, or other community event. We can provide you with health data, including the rates of the top 10 leading causes of death, health charts and typical screening outcomes from some of our own events.

We at the Men's Health Network commend you for your interest in the health of men, their families and your community and are pleased to have your support in our continued efforts aimed at Building Healthy Families One Man at a Time™.

When you need help planning or executing your event, please call us at 202.543.MHN.1 or email HZ@menshealthnetwork.org.