Men's Health Peer Education
The Mens Health Peer Education web site provides:
- helpful information on health and lifestyle issues
- online Mens Health Peer Education manual
- contact details for obtaining more information
What is Men's Health Peer Education?
The Men's Health Peer Education (MHPE) program was funded as part of the supplementary package of support provided by the Australian Government in response to the validated findings of the Vietnam Veterans' Health Study.
The concept for the Men's Health Peer Education program came from the veteran community. It is based on a Tasmanian pilot conducted in 1999 by the Vietnam Veterans' Association of Australia (Tas). The pilot was in response to the recognition that Vietnam veterans experienced a higher incidence of certain conditions, including coronary heart disease, prostate cancer, high alcohol consumption and related conditions and diabetes.
Following the pilot project and national consultation with veteran communities, the MHPE program was set up to encourage all veterans and ex-service organisations to share the responsibility for managing their own health and well being.
The MHPE program trains volunteers to provide health information to their veteran peers to assist them in making informed lifestyle choices around their health. The program is open to all veterans or partners of veterans.
For further information about the program or training courses for MHPE Volunteers contact DVA on 133 254 or menshealth@dva.gov.au
MHPE Magazine
To support the MHPE volunteer network and program, a quarterly magazine is produced. Articles are contributed by MHPE facilitators; health professionals and DVA staff.
The magazine is available online and may be downloaded as a PDF document.
Men's Health Peer Education Volunteer Resource
All Men's Health Peer Education Volunteers are provided with a series of Resource Booklets to assist them when providing information to veterans. These booklets contain ten core health topics, covering a wide variety of subjects. The material contained in the booklets can also be found on this website.
DVA undertakes regular reviews of this website to ensure the accuracy of the health education information supplied. DVA does not guarantee the that non-DVA information is complete, correct or up to date past February 2009.
Any decision about personal health requirements should be taken in conjunction with professional medical advice.
Permission is given by the Australian Government for the manual or website to be copied, without payment, for educational or non-profit/community purposes only. Any other use will require the written permission of DVA and may require the written permission of other copyright owners. To the best of DVA's knowledge, copyright permission has been obtained for any non-Australian Government material included on this website for the use of such material for educational purposes.
If you believe there has been an error or omission in any of the material, please contact DVA.
All other rights reserved
Apart from use permitted above or under the Copyright Act 1968 (e.g. 'fair dealing'), no part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of DVA.
Acknowledgements
DVA would like to thank Mr David Moles, Vietnam Veteran and Chairman of the Tasmanian pilot project for his help and advice in setting up the national Men's Health Peer Education program.
DVA is grateful to all health care providers and organisations that have assisted MHPE by providing health education material and expert advice.
All cartoons shown on this website are drawn solely for use by the Men’s Health Peer Education program, by Mr Grant Hoskinson.
Further links and resources
Mental Health and Relationships
Sensory Loss
Diet and Nutrition
Prostate
Cancer
Heart Health
Chronic and Degenerative Conditions
Carers Groups
Other Resources
An e-mail address has been established to take feedback and comments on your experiences with the MHPE program.