Paula Carroll

Engaging ‘hard to reach’ men in community based health promotions

This study sought to identify the factors that support ‘hard to reach’ men to engage in community based health promotion programmes. The findings from this study indicate that ‘hard to reach’ men prefer structured programmes with defined tangible outcomes. Ongoing consultation with the men should be built into programme planning to ensure that it is flexible to their changing needs. The approach of the facilitator is key to creating group safety and a positive group dynamic and ensuring that individual mens needs are met; positive group dynamics both motivates men to engage and is beneficial for mens education. Homogeneity among the group of men on at least one level is essential in order to support group safety. Using incentives, removing costs and choosing easily accessible venues in non-traditional settings may remove barriers to engagement of this priority group. Offering programmes in the evening would enable employed men to engage, while also removing the stigma of being available to attend during the day due to unemployment. The findings from this study may be adopted as guidelines to support others working in this challenging area.

. . . If You're Not Part of the Institution You Fall by the Wayside: Service Providers' Perspectives on Moving Young Men From Disconnection and Isolation to Connection and Belonging.

There have been increasing calls for more gender-specific service provision to support young men’s (20-29 years) mental health and well-being. In Ireland, young men are the demographic group that are most likely to die by suicide but among the least likely to seek help. This study sought to investigate service providers’ perspectives on the factors that support or inhibit young men from engaging in services targeted at supporting their mental/emotional well-being. Qualitative methodologies (focus groups, n = 9; interviews, n = 7) were used for this study. Disconnection from family and community was identified as a key indicator of “at-risk” groups of young men who, more typically, had experienced significant disruption in their lives. The discord between demands and expectations facing young men on one hand, and insufficient life-management and coping skills on the other, left many young men vulnerable and bereft. The desire to save face and preserve one’s masculine identity was linked to young men’s reluctance to seek help when feeling down. There was a strong consensus that there could be no shortcuts to [re]connecting with young men. While sport, technology, and social media were cited as appropriate media in which to engage young men, the essence of sustained connection revolved around creating safety, trust, rapport, and meaningful relationships. The findings from this study have informed the development of a Train the Trainer program (“Connecting with Young Men”), which is currently being delivered to service providers in Ireland and which may have implications for service provision elsewhere.

An investigation into the partnership process of community-based health promotion for men

Working in partnership offers service providers an opportunity to support one another and to maximise their collective resources. Effective partnerships underpin effective interventions whereby the efforts of the whole group outweigh the sum of the efforts of individual partners. Partnership work is essential in the area of community-based health promotion for men; vulnerable men are a particularly challenging group to engage and sustain in community health promotion interventions, and traditionally sparse resources have been targeted at this cohort. Using qualitative research techniques, this study examined how one mens community health promotion partnership operated over a 15-month period. Findings demonstrate that consensus among the partners with respect to the purpose of the partnership was essential. The positive group dynamic was based upon an informed and democratic decision-making process, the use of planning (Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance – REAIM) and implementation tools (operational plan), ongoing evaluation of practice as well as the adoption of a ‘hands on approach’ to the work. Group membership was carefully considered; consultation with the target group was ongoing and it was agreed that training was required before men could participate at the partnership meetings. The specific challenges faced by the partnership were the lack of resources available for mens health work and the difficulty of initially engaging and then sustaining mens engagement with their health. The findings from this study may be adopted as guidelines to support others working in partnership in this challenging area.

A process evaluation of a Training of Trainers (TOT) model of men’s health training

This study set out to identify the mediators of diffusion of a Training of Trainers (ToT) programme; focusing on ENGAGE, Irelands national mens health training programme, we explored the process (planning, implementation and maintenance) of using a ToT model of training to affect change in gender sensitive health and social service provision for men. Our findings indicate that an experiential learning approach in combination with mechanisms for feedback and fostering peer-based support during training and beyond are key strategies that foster individual (Trainer), community (of Trainers) and organizational (Trainer workplaces) level ownership. Moreover, by adapting in response to feedback, ENGAGE was able to remain relevant over a number years and to different cohorts of Trainers. As such, core strategies used by ENGAGE could be used to inform new models of health training elsewhere.