Mengage
Engaging Health Services to Engage Men and Boys
Engaging Men In Health
The challenge of getting men engaged with health programs and services is not new. One of the most commonly asked questions people ask when they start a male health program is usually 'how do you get men to come along?' These and other resources demonstrate good practices in engaging men and boys in aspects of health and wellbeing.
Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on men's mental health services
Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on men's mental health services in Australia
Mental health services in Australia have faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in adopting the new changes to reach service users. The rapid changes in the situation and surge in the number of people seeking help or in crisis have led services to use many strategies which they would not have considered in normal situations. The services working with men were especially experiencing the difficulty in fulfilling the needs of their clients as the evidence shows that Australian men’s help seeking behaviour is lower than women.
Read more here
Cite the article:
Guntuku, S., Hall, N., & Poole, G. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on men's mental health services in Australia. Men's Health Journal, 4(1), e22-e22.
A digital intervention to reduce suicide stigma among farming men
Compared with the general population, Australian farmers—particularly men—have been identified as at greater risk of suicide. A complex range of factors are thought to contribute to this risk, including the experience of Stigma. stigma also impacts those who have attempted suicide, their carers, and those bereaved by suicide—manifesting as shame, guilt, social isolation, concealment of death, reduced help seeking and ongoing risk of suicide. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention, tailored for the farming context, designed to reduce stigma among farming men with a lived experience of suicide.
Download the paper here
The Men's Table - Model of Care
"When one man shares feelings and vulnerability, he opens the door for another man to walk through it with his own sharing of authentic feelings” – Ben Hughes, The Men’s Table
The Men’s Table is a preventative men’s mental health initiative that commenced in 2011 with one group of men. The experiences of this first informal group led to the development of a guide on how to form a successful group, called The Men’s Table Fundamentals.
From the beginning of 2019, when The Men’s Table was offered to men in the community, introductory sessions called Entree meetings were held to encourage more men to form or join their own local Table groups. In one year, between January and December 2019, the number of Table groups expanded from one to 15 Tables with a total of 148 members (see Appendix A for Table Locations).
The Men’s Table is rapidly developing from an informal ‘self- help’ strategy to a national network of Tables. This growth provided an opportunity to evaluate the experience of the men who are Table members, focusing on their motivation to join and the perceived impact that participation had on their lives and relationships. We also wanted to gather evidence on the effectiveness of the Table
approach by exploring how The Fundamentals were implemented in practice, how they contribute to outcomes for participants, and the extent to which the model is robust.
The outcomes of this investigation are The Men’s Table Model and an evaluation tool, establishing a foundation for the growth of the network of Tables, the ongoing fidelity of the model, and directions for future development, evaluation and research.
This paper presents The Men’s Table Model and explores the underpinning evidence. Read/Donload the document (6 MB) here.
Contact details:
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Are You Bogged Mate?
Rural mental health service inundated by women hoping 'farm speak' will save men
Are You Bogged Mate? is targeted at rural men, a group nearly twice as likely to die by suicide as their urban counterparts.
The founder, plant scientist Mary O'Brien, said women left behind after a son, brother, or husband took their own lives, also needed support but often slipped through the cracks.
Ms O'Brien said country women had contacted her to share their stories and thank her for encouraging rural men to ask for help when they were mentally 'bogged'.
Read the full article on ABC here
Social Determinants of Health Webcast Series
In partnership with Social Futures and Health Justice Australia we invite you to register for the Social Determinants of Health Webcast Series, delivered via your boardroom TV, desktop or anywhere you have Internet.
Join us live for one webcast or all five and take part in real time discussions, surveys and Q&As. No download necessary – simply enter your email, save the date and be ready to take part. If you can’t make it to the live webcast, register anyway and we’ll send you a post-event link to the watch-on-demand video file.
Regsiter for the sereis here: https://www.thecentrehki.com.au/events/sdoh/
ACON: Engaging Gay Men Into Health Services
This factsheet from ACON provides information for services to promote a culture that welcomes and respects GBLTI people. "Simple measures demonstrate to clients that the service has considered their needs in structuring their services towards them..."
Capire: 100 Ideas To Engage Hard To Reach Populations
This publications is a useful resource from the Capire Consulting Group, with 100 tips for engaging hard to reach populations. "Ask likely members of the group how they would like to participate and what they would like from the program..."
FaHCSIA: Introduction To Working With Men And Family Relationships
This guide is a useful resource to better understand how services can work with men in a family context, for the benefit of both men and their partners and children. It describes some of the approaches, values and cultural aspects of men that will impact on family engagement.Engaging Indigenous Men In Primary Care Settings
Andrology Australia: Engaging Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Men In Primary Care Settings.It is well recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men are the most disadvantaged population group in Australia in terms of physical well-being. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men have higher death rates, and are more likely to die at much younger ages from circulatory disease than the general population (AIHW, 2012), and they often have poor access to effective health services.(AIHW)
"Health services need to be accessible i.e. physically available, financially affordable and appropriate."
FaHCSIA: Guide To Engaging Fathers in Child and Family Health Services
This paper describes father participation in selected Stronger Families and Communities Strategy (SFCS) 2004–2009 programs and services which explores fathers' engagement with child and family services.Everton Football Club: Men's Health Checks
Over 120,000 men in the UK die prematurely every year. Male life expectancy in Liverpool is the third lowest in England with 46.3% of men in Liverpool classified as overweight."Before I got involved with this project I just sat in all day, every day. It was depressing, but now I’ve got something to look forward to and I’ve made some good friends..."
Western Sydney University: Promoting Men's Health In General Practice
There is much more to improving male health than getting men to seek help more effectively. While they have a place, public health campaigns frequently ignore the role that services play when a man does present. This guide is useful for GPs in encouraging systems and environments that promote male health engagement. A Checklist For Organisations Working With Men
Andrew King, Steve Sweeney and Ross Fletcher developed this checklist as a way to provide organisations with a methodology to tailor their services to better meet the needs of men.
"The 'non-deficit' approach views involvement of men in a way that expects and encourages positive results..."
VicHealth: Engaging Men In Health Seminar June 2011
In association with Men’s Health Week in June 2011, the department hosted a seminar entitled Engaging Men in Healthcare. "Men will engage in positive health practices if they are in an environment which supports positive health practices..."
State of Victoria: Engaging Men In Healthcare - Practice And Policy Guide
This guide has been created to assist health services to improve their engagement with men, support policy makers and health service providers to respond more effectively to men's health needs. It can be used by small to large organisations and is intended for people involved in the management and delivery of health services and programs, health policymakers and organisations that are involved in health related work, such as local councils.
Big Lottery Fund: Engaging Men In Your Project: A Good Practice Guide
BIG Lottery funds a wide range of programs and projects that are open to all but many of these attract fewer men than women, despite the fact that some of these projects deal with issues that tend to affect men more acutely. These resources offer practical and easy to implement ideas for services to reach out and improve their engagement with men and boys for good causes.NHS Health Confederation: Sport And Health In The UK
Sport is increasingly being recognised as an effective way to engage men and boys in practices that can enhance their health and wellbeing. This report from the UK National Health Service provides a useful guide to using sport as a way to reach men.