The inconvenience of going to the doctor is enough for 22 per cent of men to avoid it completely.
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But men’s health and medical centres around the Border region have said that attitude has started to change for the better.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’s 2014-15 Patient Experience Survey found 83 per cent of people saw a GP in the previous 12 months.
This included 88 per cent of females, compared to just 78 per cent of men.
Wodonga Men’s Shed chairman Alton Butt said being on the front foot with health was part of his organisation’s philosophy.
“The guys that I associate with, I think they’re very diligent with going,” he said.
“Especially in this day and age it’s so easy to go to a doctor.”
The number of people in the ABS survey who felt they waited longer than acceptable for an appointment fell to 21 per cent from 23 per cent in 2013-14.
The advice from the Men’s Shed is health issues only worsen by avoiding the doctor.
“There’s probably still one or two who are like that, but on the whole, most people are likely to get to the doctor,” Mr Butt said.
The Walwa Bush Nursing Centre has been on the front foot trying to convince men in the rural catchment of about 700 to visit the doctor.
Chief executive officer Sandra Grieve said a campaign to get checked for chronic diseases could mean some men finally raise other health issues they had put off.
She said Walwa was a farming community where much of the male population was out in the paddocks from 6am to 6pm.
A shower, change of clothes and trip to the doctor would take a big chunk out of their day.
“It is a huge inconvenience,” Ms Grieve said.
She said the community had peace of mind knowing a nurse was available 24 hours per day at the centre.
ABS data found one in 12 people around the country saw an after-hours GP in the past year.
“We tend to think we’re seeing people earlier, before they becoming seriously ill,” Ms Grieve said.
“It’s incredibly vital, but it’s also important that they form a partnership with the GP to help make decisions.”
The nursing centre, staffed by female doctors, was on the hunt for a male doctor to go in for a few weeks in January.
“On more than the odd occasion, I do get regular comments from the blokes of ‘are you going to get a bloke in at some stage?’,” Ms Grieve said.
She said the number of men visiting the doctor has changed in the 20 years she has been in the profession, but put it down to better treatment being available.
