{jcomments off}Is engaging men or delivering training part of your work or volunteering activity?  Are you interested in becoming a men’s health trainer? ...  Then this programme could be for you!

A Men’s Health Training programme (called ‘Engage’) has been developed to meet the growing demand from service providers in Ireland for support to work with men.  This programme is founded on national and international best practice, and is setting the Quality Mark in men’s health training in Ireland.  During Autumn 2012, the first intake of ‘Engage’ facilitators were recruited and trained, and they are now delivering the programme across the whole island of Ireland (see www.mhfi.org/training.html for more details).

You are invited to apply for a place on the second ‘Engage’ Train the Trainers programme.  This will take place on 11th and 12th September and 16th and 17th October 2013.  Each block of training will be held in Teach Bhride, Tullow, Co. Carlow, and will involve an overnight residential on each occasion.  Participation in this Train the Trainer programme is free. 

See www.mhfi.org/engagetraining2013.pdf for more details (PDF file).  However, if you require an application form that you can type into, visit www.mhfi.org/engagetraining2013.ppt for a PowerPoint version of this document (please note that this file is 1.54MB in size and will, therefore, take a short while to download).

The deadline for submission of applications is Wednesday 10th July 2013.

For more information on the ‘Engage’ training programme, contact Aoife Osborne by email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

{jcomments off}As part of its work with the Man Matters Project, Parenting NI will be facilitating three seminars for practitioners working with fathers in Northern Ireland. To ensure that the seminars address the issues of most relevance, you are invited to complete an online survey about your experience in this field.  It will only take a few minutes to submit your answers at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/NQ88GFP  The responses received will help to shape the focus and content of the seminars.  More detail on these events will be circulated in August / September.  For further information, contact Pauline Martin on Tel: 028 9031 0891 or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

{jcomments off}The 11th Annual Gay Health Forum (GHF 11) will take place on Friday 21st June 2013, from 10.00am - 2.30pm, in the Boardroom of Dr Steveens’ Hospital, Dublin 8.  GHF 11 presents an opportunity for those involved in HIV, AIDS, sexual health, and other health related work with MSM and LGBT people to network, share information, and acknowledge efforts in advancing the health and well being of LGBT people.  GHF 11 is free.  However, as places are strictly limited they will be assigned on a first-to-register basis.  See: www.mhfi.org/man2man.pdf for more details and a registration form.

{jcomments off}To celebrate Men’s Health Week 2013, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Men's Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) invite you to ‘From Policy to Practice: Profiling the Impact of Ireland’s National Men’s Health Policy’.  This event will take place on Thursday 13th June 2013, in Dr Steevens' Hospital, Dublin 8, from 10.00am - 4.00pm.  The aim of this free event is to profile the key outputs in the area of men’s health in Ireland that have been delivered since the publication of the Men’s Health Policy and Five Year Action Plan in 2009, and to set priorities for key policy areas in men’s health in the future.  The programme will involve keynote addresses from two leading experts in men’s health (Noel Richardson and Kate Hunt), workshops on a range of men’s health topics, and poster presentations from a diverse spectrum of organisations on the island of Ireland who work in the field of men’s health and well-being.  For more detail on the programme and the application process, see: www.mhfi.org/dublin2013invitation.pdf   Please note that places at this event are extremely limited, and that there is a deadline for receipt of applications.

{jcomments off}We’re nearly there.  The clock is ticking ...  it won’t be long now until International Men's Health Week (MHW).  This year, it will run from Monday 10th until Sunday 16th June 2013.  The theme in Ireland will focus upon ‘Action Men’ and there is a call for everyone (policy makers, service providers, men themselves ...) to ‘turn words into actions’ i.e. stop just talking about men’s health and do something practical to help to improve 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.  Therefore, any events and activities to celebrate this occasion are very welcome.  To find out more about this week and how you can get involved, visit: www.mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-2013.html   Alternatively, download the MHW 2013 Briefing Paper at: www.mhfi.org/mhw2013briefing.pdf

{jcomments off}Even if you don’t do anything else to support Men’s Health Week (MHW) this year, you can at least put up a poster to let everyone know when it’s taking place!  To highlight MHW 2013, a new poster features Michael Glover from the Man Matters project in Northern Ireland.  The message on this poster is very simple: Turn Words into Actions!  The posters are free, and are available in A3 size hard copy as well as in a range of electronic formats (from the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland website).  You can find details of how to get copies of these posters at: www.mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-2013.html

{jcomments off}Every year there are hundreds (possibly even thousands) of events throughout Ireland to celebrate Men’s Health Week (MHW).  Some of these are well publicised, but most are only known about by a few people!  This year, the Men's Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) will have a section on its website to promote the details of any activities or events that are being held throughout Ireland during Men’s Health Week 2013.  This will help everyone to find out what is happening during the week, where it will take place, and how to join in.  It will also give some recognition and publicity to all those groups across Ireland that are doing something for and with men.  Your activity might be health checks, or a conference, or a launch, or a game, or a seminar, or a competition, or a workshop, or a lunch, or a course, or a drama, or a display, or a health fair ...  Whatever it is, if you would like to have the details included on this website, please complete and submit a MHW Event Form on the MHFI website at: www.mhfi.org/mhw/submit-an-event.html

{jcomments off}Absolutely everyone can do something to support and celebrate Men’s Health Week (MHW) 2013.  The focus for this year (i.e. ‘Action Men - Turning Words into Actions’) lends itself to a wide range of ways to mark this occasion.  However, you don’t have to stick rigidly to this particular topic.  Anything which 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.  You might have time, energy and resources to plan something big.  However, even if you can’t, there are still simple and easy ways to get involved.  These include ...

• Putting a MHW poster (or two) up in your workplace / meeting space / community centre / local shop / bar / waiting room / home ...
• Promoting the week on your website - using a copy of the MHW logo or web banner.
• Linking to the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland’s website page devoted to Men’s Health Week 2013 (www.mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-2013.html) from your own website, Facebook page or other social networking site.
• Sending an email to everyone in your contacts list to tell them about Men’s Health Week, and asking them to forward the message to all their contacts.
• Becoming a fan of the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MensHealthForumIreland) and sending this link to all your online friends.
• Inserting the MHW logo into your outgoing emails for the months of May and June.
• Including information on MHW in your mailouts / newsletters.
• Telling others about what is happening in your area during MHW by posting details on the MHFI website (use the form at: www.mhfi.org/mhw/submit-an-event.html).
• Making the MHW logo your computer desktop ‘wallpaper’ during May and June.
• Reminding your colleagues to follow all the latest MHW news on Twitter (www.twitter.com/MensHealthIRL).
• Encouraging the men you know to get involved in some of the activities taking place during MHW 2013 ...

For more ideas, download a copy of our paper on what you can do to mark MHW 2013 at: www.mhfi.org/mhw2013celebrateit.pdf