Globally, men have a lower life expectancy than women and health outcomes among men are poorer than
women. Only Australia, Brazil, Iran, and Ireland possess national men’s health policies. Testicular disorders
can have a negative effect on men’s health and are rarely addressed in these policies. Findings from the
empirical literature on men’s awareness of testicular disorders suggest that men’s knowledge of testicular
disorders is lacking and their intentions to seek timely medical attention for testicular symptoms are low.
This paper aims to introduce the concept of 'testicular awareness' and explore its implications for health
research, practice, and education. The key attributes of ‘testicular awareness’ include: (i) familiarity with
own testes; (ii) knowing what is normal versus abnormal; (iii) ability to detect an abnormality; and (iv)
knowing own risk factors. Testicular awareness is an all-encompassing concept since it helps men become
familiar with an intimate body part that is seldom discussed and enables them to detect testicular abnormalities and to seek timely medical attention for testicular symptoms, regardless of the ultimate diagnosis.
Testicular awareness can be promoted using a number of strategies, such as: (i) involving men in drafting
men’s health policies that address testicular awareness; (ii) partnering with men to develop and test interventions promoting testicular awareness; (iii) being cognizant of the learning needs of men who are at risk
of health disparities including those with low literacy and health literacy; (iv) promoting testicular awareness in clinical practice and health education; and (v) using men’s daily spheres of information to promote
testicular awareness; these include but are not limited to: workplaces, universities, gyms, and community
organizations.