‘Take a leaf from women’: Merv Hughes’ health advice for over-60s men

Australian cricket legend and all-round blokey bloke  Merv Hughes is an expert when it comes to all things on the cricket pitch, but he’s using his fame to encourage older Australians to start taking health seriously.

In addition to being announced as the first male ambassador for Priceline’s Misterhood for Sisterhood fundraiser to raise $1 million for the Priceline Sisterhood Foundation, Hughes told Starts at 60 that Aussie men in particular need to start paying more attention to women’s health issues.

“We just don’t want to know, do we?” he said of men when it comes to women’s health problems. “It’s as simple as that. I suppose over the years I’ve been involved with Andrology Australia, which is men’s health, and you see all the problems that men, especially over 40 have. And you think if men over 40 are having problems, women over 40 are having problems, too.”

The 56-year-old told Starts at 60 the women in his life have been fairy lucky when it comes to health, but said it hasn’t stopped him worrying about them.

“You see the issues my daughter has been through. While there’s been no health problems, there’s certainly been other issues and you work through those,” he said. “A lot of blokes just want to stick their head in the sand and not know about it. Obviously the more you know, the more supportive you can be.”

Part of his work as Priceline’s Misterhood for Sisterhood ambassador is for Hughes to let other men know that no matter how hard they try to hide them, women do deal with health problems.

“When women get sick, the blokes sort of leave them alone,” he notes. “When we get sick, as blokes, we want our women to run around and get us chicken soup and make sure everything’s done, but when they get sick we just think, ‘well, you can handle it’.

“The women in our lives encourage us to see a doctor to just find out what’s wrong. If they’re going to encourage us, certainly, we should give a little bit back.”

The former I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! star said listening was one of the ways he helps the women in his life.

“I think it’s just listening,” he said. “Listening to the concerns they have and being supportive. Trying to help out with suggestions about what can be done, encourage your wife to see a doctor. They encourage us to see a doctor and let’s face it – women don’t need too much encouraging. They get off their backsides. If there’s something wrong, they get it checked.”

He also said men should start following women’s lead when it comes to health.

“I’ve always said that men should take a leaf out of a woman’s book,” Hughes continued. “If you’ve got a problem, get yourself to the doctor and get it checked out. That’s something we can take from women and we can get a lot back by just supporting them.”

As for the general population, the former cricketer said it was important for people to nip health problems in the bud before they came too big of a problem.

“Don’t let a little issue become a big issue. A lot of people, if it’s not a cut and you can’t see the problem, it’s not a problem. There’s so many inner-issues we have and mental health,” he said.

“Be prepared to go to your GP and have a chat and just make sure things are fine. If you’re getting asked 20 times a week if you’re okay, I’m tipping you’re not.”

Merv Hughes will be making appearances at Priceline stores around Australia, where you can purchase a $2 scratchie to support the ‘Misterhood for the Sisterhood’ campaign.

What do you think? Do men need to start taking women’s health issues more seriously?