02 July 2026

Men's Health Week: How the North West Queensland PCSG reached more men

As Convenor of the North West QLD Prostate Cancer Support Group, Yvonne McCoy used Men’s Health Week to bring an important conversation out of the shadows and into the heart of the community.

For four days, the group set up in the foyer of Mount Isa Hospital, inviting men and their families to pull up a chair, ask questions and have an honest yarn about prostate cancer.

“We decided that this year we had to be in people’s faces,” Ms McCoy says. 

After a quieter period, the small but determined group wanted to become more visible, raise awareness, and make it easier for local men to seek information and support.

The response showed just how much those conversations were needed.

With no pressure and no formal speeches, the team spoke with people passing through the hospital, shared practical information and helped make a topic many men find uncomfortable feel more approachable.

“Our whole theme for this Health Week was awareness and support,” she says.

The outreach was supported by grants from the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Mount Isa City Council.

PCFA funding helped the group purchase awareness materials, including branded hats, water containers, laptop bags and backpacks, while council support has enabled 15 eligible local men to access a free GP visit for a PSA test.

“We handed out all this information when we were in the foyer for Men’s Health Week,” Ms McCoy says.

“Fifteen men are entitled to a free visit to the doctor to have a PSA test, so as to encourage them.”

For Ms McCoy, the impact of simply being visible was clear almost immediately.

After leaving the hospital on the final afternoon, still wearing her PCFA shirt, she stopped at a service station. A man serving her asked a question that opened the door to a potentially life-changing conversation.

“He said, ‘What’s the difference between prostate cancer and bowel cancer?’” she recalls.

“I had a bit of a chat with him and explained to him a bit about this and that. He said, ‘No, I didn’t know.’ I said, ‘It’s time you did something about it, and I’m coming back to check up on you.’”

It is this kind of everyday connection that drives the group’s work.

The North West QLD Prostate Cancer Support Group has been incorporated since around 2012, with many members involved from the beginning. Despite an ageing membership and the challenges of keeping a small regional group active, they continue to show up for men and their families impacted by prostate cancer.

Ms McCoy’s commitment is also deeply personal. Her husband lived with advanced prostate cancer for 14 years, and she has remained involved to honour his experience and help others face the disease with more information, confidence and support.

“We just keep trying,” Ms McCoy says.