Oral Presentation (max 20 mins including Q&A) National Men's Health Gathering 2025

The social determinants of men’s health literacy in Australia: Insights from the national longitudinal study on male health   (122068)

Zelalem Mengesha 1 , Alexandra Hawkey 2 , Adugnaw Alem 1 , Abela Mahimbo 3
  1. University Of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia
  2. Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
  3. School of Public health, UTS, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Background: Australian men face significant inequities in healthcare access and utilisation and have poorer health outcomes. The National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030 prioritises health literacy interventions to mitigate these inequities and enhance overall men’s health. Methods: This study utilised data from Wave 4 (2022) of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men) to examine the social determinants of men’s health literacy. Poisson regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with variations in health literacy among Australian men. Results: The analysis revealed that employment status, education, private insurance, financial hardship, masculine norms, and geographic region significantly influence men’s ability to engage with healthcare providers and access reliable health information. Conclusions: The results suggest that social determinants play a crucial role in shaping health literacy among Australian men. Consequently, health policies and promotion programs should be tailored to address these specific social determinants to improve health literacy and reduce health inequities among Australian men.