Canadian Men’s Health Literacy: A Nationally Representative Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 993-1003 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Oliffe ◽  
Donald R. McCreary ◽  
Nick Black ◽  
Ryan Flannigan ◽  
S. Larry Goldenberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
Low Health Literacy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Promotion Programs

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.

scholarly journals Men’s health literacy: a review and recommendations

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1037-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L Oliffe ◽  
Emma Rossnagel ◽  
Mary T Kelly ◽  
Joan L Bottorff ◽  
Cherisse Seaton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
Colon Cancers ◽  
Health Promotion Programs

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.

Community-based men’s health promotion programs: eight lessons learnt and their caveats

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1230-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L Oliffe ◽  
Emma Rossnagel ◽  
Joan L Bottorff ◽  
Suzanne K Chambers ◽  
Cristina Caperchione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Lessons Learnt ◽  
Community Based Programs ◽  
Health Promotion Programs ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Future Work

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.

Empathy not quarantined: Association between people’s empathy to others and the COVID-19 pandemic situations based on a national survey study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhibin Jiang ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Bu Zhong ◽  
Xuebing Qin
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Media ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Affective Response ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Income Levels ◽  
The Social

BACKGROUND The Covid-19 pandemic had turned the world upside down, but not much is known about how people’s empathy might be affected by the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study examined 1) how empathy towards others might be influenced by the social support people obtained by using social media; and 2) how the individual demographics (e.g., age, income) may affect empathy. METHODS A national survey (N = 943) was conducted in China in February 2020, in which the participants read three real scenarios about low-income urban workers (Scenario I), small business owners in cities (Scenario II), and farmers in rural areas (Scenario III) who underwent hardship due to COVID-19. After exposure to others’ difficulties in the scenarios, the participants’ empathy and anxiety levels were measured. We also measured the social support they had by using social media. RESULTS Results show that social support not only positively impacted empathy, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario I, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario II, and β = .29, P < .001 for Scenario III, but also interacted with anxiety in influencing the degree to which participants could maintain empathy towards others, β = .08, P = .010 for Scenario I, and β = .07, P = .033 for scenario II. Age negatively predicted empathy for Scenario I, β = -.08, P = .018 and Scenario III, β = -.08, P = .009, but not for Scenario II, β = -.03, P = .40. Income levels – low, medium, high – positively predicted empathy for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 8.10, P < .001, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = 2.14, P = .12, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 2.93, P = .06. Participants living in big cities expressed greater empathy towards others for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 4.03, P =.018, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = .81, P = .45, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 1.46, P =.23. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the literature by discovering the critical role empathy plays in people’s affective response to others during the pandemic. Anxiety did not decrease empathy. However, those gaining more social support on social media showed more empathy for others. Those who resided in cities with higher income levels were more empathetic during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study reveals that the social support people obtained helped maintain empathy to others, making them resilient in challenging times.

Silent cries: reflections on men’s health promotion

2002 ◽  
pp. 226-237
Author(s):  
Linda Jones ◽  
Moyra Sidell ◽  
Jenny Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Men's Health

scholarly journals The social and economic benefit of health literacy interventions in the WHO EURO region

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Stielke ◽  
M Dyakova ◽  
K Ashton ◽  
T van Dam
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Literacy Interventions ◽  
Social Return On Investment ◽  
Mesh Terms ◽  
The Social

Abstract Background Health literacy (HL) allows people to make informed decisions regarding their health, enabling them to understand health promotion activities and to self-manage their disease or complication without requiring support from healthcare services. HL has the potential to support sustainability in health systems by decreasing healthcare spendings stemming from lowered disease occurrence and progression, it can also impact on the rest of peoples’ lives and their surroundings by allowing them to be more independent. This study researched the evidence for return on investment and the social return on investment for health literacy interventions within the WHO EURO region. Methods A narrative literature review on published peer-reviewed reviews and grey literature was conducted by use of keywords and MeSH terms. Google, Google Scholar and PubMed were used find literature. The search on PubMed was restricted to reviews, published within the last 10 years (2009-2019), in English. Results In total, 450 publications were screened 12 publications that analysed the economic or social aspect of HL interventions were identified. Five discussed the cost-effectiveness of health literacy, three the return on investment (ROI) and the remaining three the social return on investment (SROI) of HL. Types of HL interventions ranged from health promotion campaigns, web-based HL programs, prevention systems to education-based interventions. Cost-effectiveness differed between studies and fields. Evidence for ROI was found, the return ratios ranged from 0.62 to 27.4. Findings show SROI between 4.41 and 7.25, indicating additional value of social benefit next to improved health. Conclusions A link between cost-effectiveness and HL interventions was established and ROI and SROI showed positive ratios. Further research is required in order to investigate whether HL interventions consistently achieve a positive returns. Key messages A link between health literacy interventions and positive investment returns has been established. Health literacy interventions show potential for sustainable development of health systems.

scholarly journals Gender and health literacy: men’s health beliefs and behaviour in Trinidad

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 804-811
Author(s):  
J Wills ◽  
S Sykes ◽  
S Hardy ◽  
M Kelly ◽  
C Moorley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Beliefs ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Interactive Health ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Gender variations in health literacy have implications for engagement in preventive behaviours and the uptake of health services, especially in areas such as the Caribbean where there are marked disparities in life expectancy and health service utilization. A self-reported questionnaire was used to examine men’s concepts of health, their help-seeking behaviours and their functional and interactive health literacy. Two hundred and forty-eight men across the life course participated at three sites in Trinidad. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, with free-text responses analysed thematically. Men were concerned about, and accepted responsibility for their own health but social norms concerning sickness and masculinity were barriers to accessing health services. Almost one-third (31.5%) sought advice from a healthcare service when they were last sick because they were prompted to do so by their wife/partner or family. Levels of functional and interactive health literacy were not high among older men, who were reliant on healthcare professionals to communicate health messages. There was an age divide in e-health literacy. There is little published evidence on men’s health literacy, particularly from Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago. This study highlights the importance of the design and implementation of specific policies focusing on men’s health. A major challenge is to engage with men who do not access health services.

scholarly journals Equity, gender and health: New directions for global men’s health promotion

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Smith ◽  
Daphne C. Watkins ◽  
Derek M. Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Gender And Health

scholarly journals Health of transgender men in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. e003471
Author(s):  
Ayden Scheim ◽  
Vibhuti Kacholia ◽  
Carmen Logie ◽  
Venkatesan Chakrapani ◽  
Ketki Ranade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Trans Men ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

IntroductionDespite the rapid growth of research on transgender (trans) health globally, the extent of research on trans men and other transmasculine persons assigned the female sex at birth remains unclear. We, therefore, conducted a scoping review on trans men’s health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsThe review included peer-reviewed articles and conference abstracts, and grey literature published from 1 January 1999 to 5 July 2019 in English, French, Hindi or Spanish and reporting original quantitative and/or qualitative data on the health of trans men or transmasculine persons living in LMIC. Studies were excluded if they did not disaggregate data for trans men or if they only described surgical techniques or laboratory values.ResultsWe included 53 studies (42 peer-reviewed and 11 grey literature) from 19 LMIC. Most were conducted in higher-middle-income countries (n=12) and in Latin America (n=16, 30.2%), the Middle East (n=14, 26.4%) or Sub-Saharan Africa (n=12, 22.6%) and published in 2014 or later (n=44, 83.0%). Approximately half of studies used quantitative methods (52.8%, n=28), of which 64.3% (n=18) had fewer than 50 participants and 14.2% (n=4) had over 150. Across study designs, social determinants of health and gender-affirming care were the most commonly represented domains (49.1% and 47.1% of studies respectively), with common themes including gender-based violence, coercion and discrimination as well as unprescribed hormone use. Other domains represented included mental health (32.1%), sexual and reproductive health (24.5%), general healthcare access (18.9%), physical health (9.4%) and substance use (9.4%).ConclusionGreater inclusion and disaggregation of trans men and transmasculine persons in global health research is needed to support sex- and gender-based analyses of trans health. Community-based research approaches and theoretically driven research may help to increase the relevance and rigour of such research. Funders should invest in research on trans men’s health in LMIC.

scholarly journals The Australian Male Policy: Unfinished Business

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (SP1) ◽  
pp. e50-e56
Author(s):  
John Macdonald
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Preliminary Step ◽  
Male Health ◽  
The Social

This comment on the Australian Male Health Policy draws on the framework suggested by Buse, May and Walt which suggests that insights can be achieved by looking at the content, context, process and actors involved.1 As a preliminary step in such analysis, these three elements are briefly looked at. This allows for acknowledgement of some of the strengths of the policy, not least of all its focus on the social determinants of men’s health, a framework often applied to other subpopulations, but rarely to men. On another positive note, the policy led to the funding of a national men’s health longitudinal study and support for the Men’s Shed movement. I also highlight the benefits of the community consultations which occurred, which allowed men from across the country to express their views on men’s health needs. Mention is made of the Brazilian Men’s Health Policy and the Irish Men’s Health Policy and Action Plan from which lessons could be learned.

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