People Don't Know What Incontinence Means

Alan had prostate cancer 14 years ago and has since been working tirelessly to educate others

"I often talk to groups of men about their health. I started out using words like continence, but people weren't understanding," Alan tells Bridge. "You have to use plain language to explain to people what is normal and what they should be looking out for when it comes to their bladder and bowel control health"

    
"Women are often more health literate (understand health care options) because they have been going to the doctor since puberty. Blokes put off going to the doctor thinking the problem will go away or leave it for too long to get their symptoms checked out," says Alan. "When I talk to these groups of men and explain how often they should be going to the toilet and what their wee and poo should look like they are often shocked. 

    
I will say to a bloke, if you are only doing a poo every 4-5 days, how does that feel? How does your body feel when that happens?"

Using Plain Language

    
"When I am planning a presentation for the general public who might not be that health literate, I always ask myself, 'What will stop this from working, what will stop people from understanding this topic?'," Alan explains. "Not only do we have to consider people who might not be that familiar with medical terms, we also have to consider all the people in Australia that don't have English as a first language."

 44% of Australian adults don’t have the literacy skills to manage everyday reading tasks.