The President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents has called on police leaders to be more open about their health after hosting a seminar aimed at breaking down the stigma around men’s physical and mental wellbeing.
The inaugural Super Healthy: Men’s Health event brought together senior officers to hear from leading men’s health specialist Dr Jeff Foster and former detective chief superintendent Paul Fodringham from Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service.
Chief Superintendent Rob Hay, President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said the idea for the seminar came after reflecting on the work policing has done to improve awareness of women’s health in the workplace.
“We’ve done a lot of work as an association around raising awareness of issues affecting our female colleagues. But actually, us guys aren’t always the best at looking after our own health and wellbeing.
“I wanted to put on an event that generated awareness around some key physical and mental health issues, and encouraged men to take better care of themselves and be a bit more mindful of their own wellbeing.”
Dr Foster, a GP and men’s health specialist, spoke about testosterone deficiency, the symptoms men may experience as they get older and the impact declining testosterone can have on both personal wellbeing and professional performance.
“It gave us a lot to think about, not only in terms of our own health but also the teams we lead and how these issues might present themselves in the workplace,” Rob said.
“It doesn’t just affect you personally. It can affect your decision-making and how you perform professionally as well.”
The Association is now exploring further work with Dr Foster to better understand and support the health of police superintendents.
The seminar also focused on mental wellbeing, with Paul Fodringham discussing the importance of recognising the impact of policing on officers’ mental health and the support available through Oscar Kilo.
Rob welcomed Police Scotland’s plans to adopt a number of Oscar Kilo wellbeing programmes.
“We would absolutely encourage the Chief Constable to continue on that journey because I think it will be really positive for our people.”
He said investing time in wellbeing had never been more important as officers work longer careers following changes to police pensions.
“I think, as men, there’s still a stigma around talking about your health, whether that’s physical or mental. There’s still that cultural expectation that you’re going to be strong, tough and just deal with things yourself.
“Actually, that can be really harmful if you’re dealing with something that you need a bit of help to process, or if you dismiss symptoms because you think you’re just supposed to crack on.
“If we can get these conversations started, we’re helping to break down those barriers. When you consider that around 75 per cent of suicides in the UK are men, it’s not hyperbole to say that we might just save somebody’s life.”
The event received a positive response from members he said, with the Association already planning a follow-up Super Healthy: Women’s Health seminar.
“We want to make sure we’ve got something for everyone and that all of our members have access to information and support that’s relevant to them,” Rob added.