Men to be encouraged to consider careers in healthcare at free event

A free event aimed at encouraging men to consider careers in health and social care is set to take place in Chesterfield.

Health and Social Care Needs Men is part of ‘Careers that Care’ week, a series of virtual events organised in partnership with Derbyshire Voluntary Action’s (DVA) Community Chesterfield project, the University of Derby and Joined Up Careers Derbyshire.

The event, on 23 June, will see a panel of men who work in health and social care answer questions and discuss what led them to work in the sector, what they get out of it and why there are less men working in certain healthcare professions than women.

The panel will be made up of representatives from the public sector, including a Derbyshire County Council social worker, a 111 senior trainer from DHU Health Care and nurse, as well as voluntary sector workers. These will include Nathan Wood, Chief Executive Officer of the charity Ability, who appeared in a short film made for the event, and a spiritual care practitioner from Ashgate Hospicecare. Questions will be asked by a current nursing student from University of Derby.

Charlotte Repton, project manager at Community Chesterfield, said: “A career in health and social care offers a huge range of career choices, all of which can be hugely rewarding for those who choose to follow that path. Through the Health and Social Care Needs Men event, we wanted to open up the discussion around why, despite this, there is still a higher percentage of women in many healthcare roles, particularly in areas such as nursing.

“The event is set to provide an extremely interesting insight into this topic, directly from men who work in health and social care, as well as giving attendees the opportunity to have their questions or concerns around stepping into a career in health and social care answered.”

This event is open to anyone from Chesterfield and surrounding areas with an interest in health and social care. However, it will be of particular interest to men who may be considering a career in health and social care, parents or teachers who may be offering guidance to a young person making decisions about their future careers and current students who wish to find out about the range of careers their studies could lead them to.

For more information or to book a free place on the Health and Social Care Needs Men event, visit www.careersthatcareweek.org/events.