Workplace men's health support services are employer-funded benefits that give employees confidential access to clinicians who specialise in men's health. Digital men's health services deliver that care through an app, so people can get expert advice without waiting for a GP appointment or taking time off.
A good service covers physical and mental health together: prostate health, testosterone, sexual health, male fertility, sleep, stress and mood. These issues are linked. They are also the ones people are least likely to raise at work.
Unsupported health needs turn into sickness absence, presenteeism and people leaving. Specialist support brings the first conversation forward, while the problem is still small.
Most men's health needs fall between the benefits employers already pay for.
Stigma does the rest. Many men treat health worries as something to push through. Erectile dysfunction, urinary symptoms, fertility concerns and anxiety are hard to raise with anyone, let alone at work. So people wait, and a manageable issue becomes a long absence or a slow drop in performance.
Digital services lower the barrier to the first conversation, which is where stigma does most of its damage.
Employers can reinforce this. Mention men's health in benefit communications throughout the year, using Movember and International Men's Day in November as prompts. Brief managers on how to signpost the service without asking for detail. A senior leader talking openly about using health support will do more than any poster.
Men's health support reduces sickness absence by catching problems earlier and helping people manage conditions while they stay in work.
Absence linked to men's health tends to build slowly. Untreated anxiety, poor sleep, or a hormonal or urological problem can mean months of reduced performance before the first day off. When someone can speak to a specialist quickly, they get reassurance, a treatment plan or a route to diagnosis sooner. The gap between first symptom and recovery gets shorter.
You'll see the effect in three places:
This matches the direction of UK policy. The government's Keep Britain Working programme asks employers to do more to prevent health-related job loss and help people stay in work. Early, accessible clinical support is the kind of prevention it describes.
To measure impact, agree a baseline before launch. Track absence by reason and duration, take-up of the service, return-to-work timings and what employees say about health support in your engagement survey. Compare the same measures at six and twelve months.
The men's health support that best complements family benefits comes from the same provider as your fertility, pregnancy and parenthood support, so partners get joined-up care.
Family benefits are often designed around one partner. Men's health support fills two gaps:
Running these through one provider gives employees one app and gives HR one contract and one set of usage data. When someone's circumstances change, from trying to conceive to expecting a baby to raising a child, they stay with the same service instead of starting again.
Use these checks to compare providers and spot overlap with what you already offer.
|
What to check |
Why it matters |
Question to ask the provider |
|---|---|---|
|
Specialist clinicians |
Men's health concerns need clinical expertise beyond general wellbeing advice |
Who will employees speak to, and what are their qualifications? |
|
Confidentiality |
People won't use a service they think their employer can see into |
What data do we receive, and is it anonymised and aggregated? |
|
Access limits |
Session caps send people back to waiting lists mid-treatment |
Is access unlimited, and how soon can someone get a first appointment? |
|
Physical and mental health together |
Many men's health symptoms affect both |
Can one clinician address a physical symptom and its effect on mood? |
|
Fit with EAP and PMI |
Overlap wastes budget and gaps leave people unsupported |
How do you refer people into our EAP or PMI when they need it? |
|
Family and life-stage cover |
Fertility and parenthood involve partners |
Can the same service support fertility, pregnancy and parenthood? |
|
Reporting |
You'll need evidence at renewal |
What reporting will we get on take-up and impact? |
|
Global reach |
Benefits should be consistent across locations |
Can employees in every country we operate in use the service? |
Peppy is a global employee healthcare benefit that gives people unlimited, confidential access to specialist clinicians through an app. Men's health is one of six life stages Peppy covers, alongside menopause, fertility, women's health, pregnancy and parenthood, and neurodiversity.
That range matters for men's health. Someone can speak to a men's health specialist about a physical symptom, then to a fertility or parenthood specialist as their family plans change, without switching provider. You manage one benefit.
Peppy sits alongside your EAP and PMI. It provides the early, specialist conversation those benefits aren't built for.
To see how Peppy would fit alongside your current benefits, book a call.
They make the first conversation private and specialist. Employees speak to a men's health clinician from their phone, with no waiting room and no need to tell their manager. Clear messaging that the service is confidential, and leaders talking about it openly, makes using it feel normal.
They reduce absence by helping people get expert advice before a condition becomes serious enough to need time off. Fast access to a specialist shortens the time from first symptom to treatment, cuts presenteeism and helps people manage ongoing conditions while staying in work.
Services from a provider that also covers fertility, pregnancy and parenthood. Fertility involves both partners, and non-birthing partners need support through pregnancy and early parenthood. One provider gives employees continuous care and gives HR one contract and one set of data.
An employee assistance programme offers short-term counselling and crisis support. Men's health support gives access to specialist clinicians who can assess physical symptoms, such as prostate, hormone or sexual health concerns, alongside mental health.
Typically prostate health, testosterone and hormone health, sexual health, male fertility, sleep, stress and mental health. Scope varies, so check each provider's clinical coverage.
It should be. Employers should receive anonymised, aggregated usage data only, never details of individual consultations.