One of the most recent episodes of the HSE ‘Talking Health and Wellbeing’ podcast was recorded in partnership with the IPU, with two pharmacists sharing their insights into men’s health in the pharmacy setting. I was joined by pharmacists Greg Cleary and Tom Murray, and the conversation covered a range of important topics, including blood pressure monitoring, smoking cessation, erectile dysfunction, sexual health, cardiovascular health, vaccinations, and mental wellbeing. The pharmacists highlighted how pharmacies serve as accessible, confidential, and non-judgmental spaces where men can proactively address their health concerns, encouraging men to take charge of their wellbeing with the support of their local pharmacist.
We set up the podcast originally to give people interested in health and wellbeing an easy way to access valuable health information. Many people listen to podcasts in the car, out for a walk or while they are at work or doing household chores. It is essentially a way to create your own radio station by tuning into podcasts of interest, and the algorithm will make related suggestions. Podcasts are a growing communication channel, and many organisations are adding them to their mix to diversify their offering. Our work in HSE Health and Wellbeing spans key policy priority areas — Mental Health and Wellbeing, Alcohol, Healthy Eating, Active Living, Sexual Health, Tobacco Free Ireland, Training and Programme Design and Men’s Health — and our ways and means of communication often include our newsletters, websites, webinars and public media campaigns. Developing a podcast has allowed us to share insights from our own staff across all of our programmes in a deeper and more meaningful way, offering long form content in an accessible format.
We initially set out to record 10 episodes, with plans to promote them to our mailing list. However, the response was so overwhelmingly positive that we were encouraged to continue and expand promoting them to the wider public. Some of our colleagues outside of Health and Wellbeing subsequently suggested podcast topics and speakers to highlight their work and communications priority, so the channel has expanded to be a podcast covering many areas of public health, prevention and health information.
Two of the major achievements of the podcast over the years has been facilitating the voices of the patient and service user and creating content that the public values. Every episode gives value as we signpost and direct people to resources and information, but the conversation is styled in a way that breaks down complex topics and humanises the content. You can hear the voices of real health service staff, many of whom share their personal and professional insights, which adds impact to the health information. We have promoted the podcast to a public audience through the HSE social media channels and we can see from the listenership and engagement which areas are most valued.
It’s been a busy few years with the podcast, and the most popular episodes tend to focus on the following three key areas.
Parenting and youth: Parenting and information on youth health is the top theme when it comes to engagement. We get a lot of weekly listeners and these episodes also work well in terms of engagement long after the episodes are published. Examples include Episode 133, Little People Big Feelings, which was our most listened to podcast in 2025 and Episode 100, Supporting your Teen with Anxiety. Both of these episodes features a panel of multi-disciplinary experts and focuses heavily on understanding adolescent development, identifying anxiety triggers, and providing actionable advice for parents, carers, and youth workers. Other parenting topics include episodes on vaping (Episode 126, Vaping, Teens and the Truth), back to school guidance, vaccinations and how to talk to your young person about relationships and sexuality.
Mental health and wellbeing: While there is crossover with the previous theme, mental health content is a cornerstone of our podcast, driving about one third of all our downloads. The importance of mental health reaches people in this format perhaps as it allows people to engage with sensitive and stigmatised issues in a private, but very human way. Listeners will hear voices of experts and of those who have been through mental health journeys and want to share their learning. Some of our most popular episodes of early 2026 were recorded in conjunction with our Balancing Stress programme and focussed on practical advice on elements of that programme such as in Episode 127, Managing Stress, Anxiety and Worry and Episode 130, Managing Low Mood and Anxiety. Other topics that have been platformed recently include mental health recovery and last year, one of the most popular episodes was Episode 88, Declutter Your Mind, which offered practical advice for managing overwhelm.
Physical health and lifestyle: Practical advice on physical health on a variety of topics forms another key theme for our podcast episodes. Recent episodes looked at eczema, endometriosis and cancer prevention. We also have episodes on physical activity guidelines, including recommendations on physical activity for pregnant women.
Advocates sharing their insights: While many of the podcast guests are health professionals, others are advocates and experts through lived experience. Their bravery in sharing personal stories has been incredible to witness and great to be able to support through the podcast. A few examples include:
All our guests share a deep expertise and passion for their work and they not only inform the listener but can be deeply moving, creating a genuine connection with our audience. We can see that our guest’s authentic storytelling and expertise is vital to the podcast as the format gives space to delve into insightful conversations.
We are excited to continue bringing insightful and authentic conversations to our audience. Upcoming plans include an episode with our new CEO, as well as another episode with pharmacists focusing on the Common Conditions Scheme in autumn.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Your support, whether through listening, sharing, or engaging with us, means a great deal. You can follow us on your preferred podcast platform or subscribe to out mailing list to keep up-to-date, by emailing healthandwellbeingcommunications@hse.ie.
Fergal Fox
Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Communications, HSE Health and Wellbeing
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