Significantly fewer men than women access suicide bereavement support services.  However, it is vital that men know that accessing support can be lifesaving, that their grief is valid, and that they deserve help.  To meet this need, HUGG is launching its first dedicated male-only suicide bereavement support group - led by men for men.  The impact of a suicide ripples outwards, often negatively affecting the mental health and quality of life of the suicide bereaved.  'AfterWords',  the national survey of people bereaved by suicide in Ireland, found unhealthy coping habits such as the use of alcohol, drugs and gambling more prevalent among suicide bereaved men than women.  Following a death by suicide: 65% of men experienced mental health problems; 40% used alcohol to cope with their grief; 33% reported problems with family relationships; and 28% said their physical health deteriorated.  For more details about joining the HUGG Men support group, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01 5134048.

Men's Health Week 2024 begins on Monday 10th June and runs until Sunday 16th June 2024.

We are delighted that the Minister for Health (Mike Nesbitt) and the Chief Medical Officer (Prof Sir Michael McBride) were able to make the time to launch #MensHealthWeek 2024 in Northern Ireland, and to produce the video below.

Find out all about the week at: https://mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-2024.html

 

International Men's Health Week (MHW), which begins on Monday 10th June and runs until Sunday 16th June 2024 (Father’s Day), is just around the corner.

At school, every pupil is told that you need to know your numbers if you are to get on in life.  This message is usually not welcomed at the time, but it’s a solid piece of advice.

During Men's Health Week 2024, everyone is being asked to ‘Know Your Numbers’.  Policy makers need to know statistics on the state of men’s health.  Men need to know the key health numbers that they should be working towards.  Everyone needs to know the numbers for support services at times when things go wrong.  Men’s health really does count!

The focus for MHW this year - ‘Know Your Numbers’ - lends itself to a wide range of ways to mark this occasion.  Everyone (health professionals, service providers, youth groups, sporting bodies, community organisations, employers, Churches, policy makers, family workers, pharmacists, the media, parents, individuals ...) is being asked to set themselves a simple, realistic and practical target to improve the health of men, and to go for it.

As always, the overarching aims of MHW are to:

-  Heighten awareness of preventable health problems for males of all ages.
-  Support men and boys to engage in healthier lifestyle choices and activities.
-  Encourage the early detection and treatment of health difficulties in males.

However, you don’t have to stick rigidly to this particular theme.  Anything which promotes the week and encourages men and boys to lead healthier lifestyles, to be more aware of preventable health problems, and to seek early detection and treatment for health difficulties will be very welcome.

To find out more about the week, visit: www.mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-2024.html

 

Everyone can do something to support and celebrate Men’s Health Week (MHW) each year.

The focus for MHW 2024 (i.e. ‘Know You Numbers’) lends itself to a wide range of ways to mark this occasion.  However, there is no need to stick rigidly to this particular theme.  Anything which promotes the week and encourages men and boys to lead healthier lifestyles, to be more aware of preventable health problems, and to seek early detection and treatment for health difficulties will be very welcome!

Some people might have the time, energy, resources and skill to plan something elaborate.  However, even if this is not possible, there are still many simple, free and easy ways to get involved / show support - such as putting-up the poster in public spaces, giving out copies of the postcard to men that you know, social media posting, directing men to the free ‘Action Man’ booklet, offering copies of the new Men’s Health in Numbers Z-Card to men, using the MHW graphics ...

For practical ideas and inspiration, you are invited to check out a paper titled 'What Can I Do To Mark This Week?' at: www.mhfi.org/mhw2024celebrateit.pdf

On Wednesday 20th March 2024, Health Service Executive (HSE) Health and Wellbeing joined with the Men's Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) to host a webinar focusing on Men's Health Week (MHW).  This event highlighted practical examples of work that HSE staff have undertaken in the past to mark and celebrate MHW.  It might kick-start some ideas for you too!  See: https://youtu.be/eP3vMNhBrTs

Not everybody knows about Men’s Health Week (MHW), what it hopes to do, why it needs to happen, or how they can get involved.  That’s why there is a MHW 2024 ‘Toolbox for Action’.  This Q&A style resource can be downloaded at: www.mhfi.org/mhw2024toolbox.pdf

Men’s health on the island of Ireland is unnecessarily poor, but it is not a lost cause.  There are many free, simple and practical things that can be done to improve it.  But what are these?

To support Men’s Health Week in 2022, a team of students from the Game Design Degree Course in Technological University Dublin developed a ‘Serious Game’ - focusing on male health - that men and boys can play online.  We're offering you another chance to play it again this year.

In this retro-style arcade game, the player is invited to take on the character of ‘Agent Mann’ - a spy who is given the mission of tracking down and securing a series of dossiers containing high level ‘Intel’ on how to improve men’s health.

To succeed in his quest, Agent Mann has to navigate through various settings to locate and collect all of the dossiers.  Along the way, he has to learn how to move around in his environment and to use some of the gadgets available to him.  But of course, danger is never far away, and his path is blocked by the henchmen of his nemesis [Mr O’Bese] who try to prevent him from uncovering this vital information.

Why not be an ‘Action Man’ yourself and …

1.  Take on the role of Agent Mann.
2.  Find and secure all of the seven dossiers.
3.  Memorise what’s in them.
4.  Use this information to improve the health of men both now and in the future.

Try it out at: https://mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-2024.html#AgentMann

To promote Men's Health Week (MHW) 2024, a bespoke poster has been designed.  Posters are available as both A3 and A4 hard copies, and as online electronic files (in a range of sizes and formats suitable for a variety of uses).  To order hard copies of the poster, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. stating:

-  How many copies you would like.
-  Which size (or sizes) that you'd like.
-  The name of the person to send them to.
-  The full postal address (including a Postcode / Eircode) for delivery.

Copies of the online electronic resources can be downloaded from: www.mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-image-pack.html#Poster2024

Even people who don't have time to do anything else for MHW 2024 are encouraged to put up a poster - in public view - to let everyone know when it is taking place.  Although this costs little to do, it will make a big difference to promoting the week!