scholarly journals Reducing health inequities facing boys and young men of colour in the United States

Author(s):  
James A Smith ◽  
Daphne C Watkins ◽  
Derek M Griffit

Summary Health promotion research and practice consistently reveals that people of colour in the USA face multiple structural and systemic health and social inequities as a direct consequence of racism and discrimination. Recent scholarship on equity and men’s health has highlighted the importance of gender—specifically concepts relating to masculinities and manhood—to better understand the inequities experienced by men of colour. A sharper focus on the intersection between race, gender and life stage has also emphasized the importance of early intervention when addressing inequities experienced by boys and young men of colour (BYMOC). This has led to an expansion of health promotion interventions targeting BYMOC across the USA over the past decade. Many of these health promotion strategies have attempted to reduce inequities through action on the social determinants of health, particularly those that intersect with education and justice systems. Reflecting on these developments, this commentary aims to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by the health promotion community when attempting to reduce health and social inequities experienced by BYMOC. In doing so, the solutions we identify include: strengthening the evidence base about effective health promotion interventions; reducing system fragmentation; promoting connectivity through networks, alliances and partnerships; reducing tensions between collaboration and competition; changing the narrative associated with BYMOC; acknowledging both inclusiveness and diversity; addressing racism and intergenerational trauma; and committing to a national boys and men’s health policy. We encourage health promotion researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to adopt these solutions for the benefit of BYMOC in the USA.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. e1-e14
Author(s):  
Steve Robertson ◽  
Paula Carroll ◽  
Alexandra Donohoe ◽  
Noel Richardson ◽  
Aisling Keohane ◽  
...  

Men’s health and life expectancy, particularly for those men from lower socioeconomic groups, remains an issue of concern in Ireland. This concern is reflected in the recent National Men’s Health Action Plan where important priority has been placed on finding appropriate ways to garner sustained involvement in health promotion interventions for men. Physical activity (PA) has been shown to be a useful ‘hook’ to assist with such engagement. ‘Men on the Move’ (MOM) is a 12 week, community-based, gender-sensitised, PA programme established as a pragmatic controlled trial and aimed at improving the health and well-being of inactive men. The programme was co-created with Local Sports Partnerships (LSP), delivered by experienced PA Coordinators (PACs), and often supported by local community champions. This paper reports on the process evaluation of the MOM programme using data collected from focus groups with the LSP’s and those involved in delivering MOM from all eight counties that took part. Findings highlight the importance of negotiated partnerships at and between national and local levels in terms of providing support, consistent guidance and appropriately branded materials to the LSP’s. The underpinning inclusive ethos of MOM, embodied by the PAC’s, led to the creation of a fun, inclusive and comfortable atmosphere that helped sustain men’s involvement. This was aided by the use of male familiar settings through which to deliver the programme. While PA focused, findings here suggest a much wider impact on mental well-being and social connection and that this was achieved in a very cost-effective way. Importantly, men’s health training (ENGAGE) was a key factor in programme design and implementation assisting in building capacity among service providers to work with men. Joined up service provision and drawing on existing, trusted, local community networks were vital to recruiting men into the programme. Finally, the potential for MOM to signpost and offer an aftercare plan to community support for the men beyond the 12-week programme was noted as important particularly where there is increased need of these among more marginalised groups of men. This process evaluation provides a good example of how health promotion interventions need to recognise and exploit the fact that health and well-being are integrally linked to the communities where people live out and experience their daily lives. Ensuring that MOM was embedded within existing community structures, and supported by community champions with the requisite skills and local knowledge, underpinned programme success and sustainability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Stiehl ◽  
Namrata Shivaprakash ◽  
Esther Thatcher ◽  
India J. Ornelas ◽  
Shawn Kneipp ◽  
...  

Objective: To determine: (1) What research has been done on health promotion interventions for low-wage workers and (2) what factors are associated with effective low-wage workers’ health promotion programs. Data Source: This review includes articles from PubMed and PsychINFO published in or before July 2016. Study Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: The search yielded 130 unique articles, 35 met the inclusion criteria: (1) being conducted in the United States, (2) including an intervention or empirical data around health promotion among adult low-wage workers, and (3) measuring changes in low-wage worker health. Data Extraction: Central features of the selected studies were extracted, including the theoretical foundation; study design; health promotion intervention content and delivery format; intervention-targeted outcomes; sample characteristics; and work, occupational, and industry characteristics. Data Analysis: Consistent with a scoping review, we used a descriptive, content analysis approach to analyze extracted data. All authors agreed upon emergent themes and 2 authors independently coded data extracted from each article. Results: The results suggest that the research on low-wage workers’ health promotion is limited, but increasing, and that low-wage workers have limited access to and utilization of worksite health promotion programs. Conclusion: Workplace health promotion programs could have a positive effect on low-wage workers, but more work is needed to understand how to expand access, what drives participation, and which delivery mechanisms are most effective.


2002 ◽  
pp. 226-237
Author(s):  
Linda Jones ◽  
Moyra Sidell ◽  
Jenny Douglas

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 155798831988258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek M. Griffith ◽  
Andrea R. Semlow ◽  
Mike Leventhal ◽  
Clare Sullivan

Tennessee is the only state in the United States that has regularly published a document monitoring men’s health and assessing men’s health disparities. Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Tennessee Department of Health, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee Men’s Health Network, and health providers and advocates across the state have come together to publish a set of indicators as the Tennessee Men’s Health Report Card (TMHRC). This article describes the origins, structure, development, and lessons learned from publishing report cards in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2017. The report card highlights statistically significant changes in trends over time, identifies racial, ethnic, age, and geographic differences among men, highlights connections to regional and statewide public health initiatives, and suggests priorities for improving men’s health in Tennessee. State data were compared to Healthy People 2020 Objectives and graded based on the degree of discrepancy between the goal and the current reality for Tennessee men. Over the four iterations of the report card, the TMHRC team has made significant adjustments to the ways they analyze and present the data, utilize grades and graphics, consider the implications of the data for the economic well-being of the state, and disseminate the findings across the state to different stakeholders. It is important to go beyond creating a summary of information; rather, data should be shared in ways that are easily understood, actionable, and applicable to different audiences. It is also critical to highlight promising policy and programmatic initiatives to improve men’s health in the state.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1230-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L Oliffe ◽  
Emma Rossnagel ◽  
Joan L Bottorff ◽  
Suzanne K Chambers ◽  
Cristina Caperchione ◽  
...  

Abstract Long-standing commentaries about men’s reticence for accessing clinical medical services, along with the more recent recognition of men’s health inequities, has driven work in community-based men’s health promotion. Indeed, the 2000s have seen rapid growth in community-based programs targeting men, and across this expanse of innovative work, experiential and empirical insights afford some important lessons learnt, and caveats to guide existing and future efforts. The current article offers eight lessons learnt regarding the design, content, recruitment, delivery, evaluation and scaling of community-based men’s health promotion programs. Design lessons include the need to address social determinants of health and men’s health inequities, build activity-based programming, garner men’s permission and affirmation to shift masculine norms, and integrate content to advance men’s health literacy. Also detailed are lessons learnt about men-friendly spaces, recruitment and retention strategies, the need to incrementally execute program evaluations, and the limits for program sustainability and scaling. Drawing from diverse community-based programs to illustrate the lessons learnt, caveats are also detailed to contextualize and caution some aspects of the lessons that are shared. The express aim of discussing lessons learnt and their caveats, reflected in the purpose of the current article, is to guide existing and future work in the ever growing field of community-based men’s health promotion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 993-1003 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Oliffe ◽  
Donald R. McCreary ◽  
Nick Black ◽  
Ryan Flannigan ◽  
S. Larry Goldenberg

Though men’s health promotion has attracted increased research attention, conspicuously absent have been empirical insights to health literacy levels within and across male subgroups. Recent advancements in the measurement of health literacy have made available avenues for evaluating individual and social determinants of health literacy. Important insights can be drawn to detail patterns and diversity among men as a means to informing the design, implementation, and evaluation of tailored health promotion programs. Drawing on 2000 Canada-based men’s responses to the Health Literacy Questionnaire, correlations between demographic variables and six health literacy scales are described. Low income, low education, and living alone were associated with men’s low health literacy, with the strongest effect sizes for the “Social support for health” and “Actively engaged with health care professionals” scales. Multiple linear regressions confirmed low income as the strongest predictor of men’s low health literacy in all the scales except “Appraisal of health information.” Low income, self-identifying as gay, bisexual, or other, and living alone were strongly predictive of low scores on the “Social support for health” scale. The findings affirm the importance of considering men’s health literacy and inequities to advance effective men’s health promotion programs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Smith ◽  
Daphne C. Watkins ◽  
Derek M. Griffith

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1037-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L Oliffe ◽  
Emma Rossnagel ◽  
Mary T Kelly ◽  
Joan L Bottorff ◽  
Cherisse Seaton ◽  
...  

Abstract Although men’s health promotion efforts have attracted programmatic and evaluative research, conspicuously absent are gendered insights to men’s health literacy. The current scoping review article shares the findings drawn from 12 published articles addressing men’s health literacy in a range of health and illness contexts. Evident was consensus that approaches tailored to men’s everyday language and delivered in familiar community-based spaces were central to advancing men’s health literacy, and, by extension, the effectiveness of men’s health promotion programs. However, most men’s health literacy studies focussed on medical knowledge of disease contexts including prostate and colon cancers, while diversity was evident regards conceptual frameworks and/or methods and measures for evaluating men’s health literacy. Despite evidence that low levels of health literacy fuel stigma and men’s reticence for health help-seeking, and that tailoring programs to health literacy levels is requisite to effective men’s health promotion efforts, the field of men’s health literacy remains underdeveloped. Based on the scoping review findings, recommendations for future research include integrating men’s health literacy research as a needs analysis to more effectively design and evaluate targeted men’s health promotion programs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1627-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline A. Bravo ◽  
Laurie Hoffman-Goetz

The Movember Foundation raises awareness and funds for men’s health issues such as prostate and testicular cancers in conjunction with a moustache contest. The 2013 Movember campaigns in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom shared the same goal of creating conversations about men’s health that lead to increased awareness and understanding of the health risks men face. Our objective was to explore Twitter conversations to identify whether the 2013 Movember campaigns sparked global conversations about prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and other men’s health issues. We conducted a content analysis of 12,666 tweets posted during the 2013 Movember campaigns in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (4,222 tweets from each country) to investigate whether tweets were health-related or non-health-related and to determine what topics dominated conversations. Few tweets ( n = 84, 0.7% of 12,666 tweets) provided content-rich or actionable health information that would lead to awareness and understanding of men’s health risks. While moustache growing and grooming was the most popular topic in U.S. tweets, conversations about community engagement were most common in Canadian and U.K. tweets. Significantly more tweets co-opted the Movember campaign to market products or contests in the United States than Canada and the United Kingdom ( p < .05). Findings from this content analysis of Twitter suggest that the 2013 Movember campaigns in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom sparked few conversations about prostate and testicular cancers that could potentially lead to greater awareness and understanding of important men’s health issues.


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