Checkmate is a health awareness project that facilitates older men men helping their buddies.

Women engage with their own healthcare earlier and more frequently than men. In almost all health statistics where gender is not related to the condition, men are 60/40 more likely to be affected by that condition.

There are many theories of ‘mascuinity’ and the roles played by men, that can often summed up as ‘men are their own worst enemies’. The primary reasons for this are numerous, recognised and outlined in Section 1 – The Problem.

Social Marketing

‘Social Marketing’ is the broad promotion format used by NHS and health bodies to promote health initiatives and advise of services / facilities where the message intention is ‘Self Care’ and prevention with the aim of reducing pressures on services overall. You will see it on TV in magazines, on buses, radio etc

Part of the man’s sense of decline is a loss of autonomy, most obviously manifest in a resistance to instruction and demand. Whilst Social Marketing messaging at its heart is pure of intent and clear in fact, it is delivered using the same pervasive/invasive mechanisms that sell us every day products.

Marketing aimed at older people is often further criticised for infantilising or commodifying the individual’s decline. Denture paste, Stannah Stairlifts, Co Op Funeral Plans to ‘Spare your family’ are all reminders of the threats to a man’s sense of being and simply serve to indicate how his value is now only measured by his pension pot.

You could be telling a man in an ad that ‘he will die tomorrow unless he acts immediately‘ and he will ignore it.

Calls to Action, hyperbole & the ‘Ensh*ttification‘ of our online experience means the expensive marketing message doesn’t even get to the ‘is this ad this useful to me?’ filter.

It’s ALL noise.

As they age, men are every bit as aware of their own health niggles as women are, but as they are taught in western society, a man carries on, absorbs and adapts, grumbles occasionally, yet remains steadfast in his role. This is normal, learned / taught behaviour and is a strategy that works for the younger healthy men they were.  It is not the best approach as they grow older.

If a person has one of the 6 Less Survivable Cancers (LSCs), or some other aggressive condition, there is often no specific ‘red flag symptom’ to trigger a need for treatment. Instead, a clustering of minor ‘niggles’ will often persist 0ver weeks or months. There is no screening for many of the LSCs which are slow-growing and persistent ‘niggles’ can indicate the disease is potentially advanced enough to impact other organs.

Because we don’t know what we don’t know, this is the main opportunity where a life can be saved.  A visit to the GP in response to persistent symptoms at this stage will always lead to a better outcome than delaying, even a few weeks can cross a tipping point. It is always better to know

CheckMate Principle

The underlying principle behind checkmate is that men are ‘instinctive engineers’ who, when given opportunity, are drawn to ‘fix’ whatever lies before them  We see that normally expressed as a DIYer or someone who tinkers with tech, cars or bikes.

We see that propensity often in ham-fisted temporary patching attempts, ‘it will do rightly’ or ‘for now’. The quality of the fix is not the point, it is meeting the challenge, howsever it ends up. Men are driven to have to have a go, make it work, extend the lifespan, stretch it out. Our health is seen as no different a task to manage but the consequences of misjudgement can be deadly.

Checkmate leverages that instinct by asking Men to look after their buddies