By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – Illinois State head football coach Brock Spack is well-known not only for his coaching skills, but also for his formidable mustache. To celebrate the ‘stache – and to draw awareness to men’s health issues – Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal will give away nearly 6,000 “Spack Staches” at the Oct. 31 home game against Indiana State.
Attendees will receive a furry, peel-and-stick #SpackStache they can sport to emulate Coach Spack and give themselves a head start on “No-Shave November” (a.k.a. “Movember”), the annual event in which men are encouraged to refrain from shaving for the month to raise awareness and funds for cancer and other men’s health concerns. Advocate BroMenn Medical Center is the Official Hospital Sponsor of Illinois State University Athletics.
“I think this will be fun for the fans that come out to the game, but what is more important is the reason why Advocate BroMenn Medical Center has partnered with us for the giveaway,” Spack said. “It’s extremely important to bring awareness to men’s health issues and this is a good way to get the message out there while also having some fun on Halloween.”
The giveaway mustaches are affixed to a “Man Card,” which challenges men to get their annual check-up, get screened for cancers, and grow their facial hair in November. Women can participate in No-Shave November by encouraging the men in their lives to take care of themselves and schedule an annual physical exam.
Representatives from the hospital will also be on hand for a pre-game tailgate, where they will provide men’s health information, promotional giveaways and Halloween candy. They’ll also offer a coupon good for $5 off the cost of a shave at Shorty’s Barber Shop in Uptown Normal, good only in December, for that post-Movember facial clean-up.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women are 100-percent more likely to visit their doctor for their annual checkup than men. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports that men are 22-percent more likely than women to have neglected their cholesterol tests, 32-percent more likely than women to be hospitalized for long-term complications of diabetes, and 24-percent more likely than women to be hospitalized for pneumonia that could have been prevented by an immunization.
“I think we have come to the point where we only seek care if we have a problem,” says Dr. Marlito Favila, internal medicine physician with Advocate Medical Group in Bloomington-Normal. “That in and of itself is a problem because there are certain diseases and illnesses that if caught early, the impact of those illnesses can be mitigated. It is important that men see their primary care physician more often than when they have a problem arise.”
The activities are part of Advocate Health Care’s “Man Up!” campaign for men’s health. For more information, visit www.ManUpAtAdvocate.com.
